Tobacco farmers in Ilocos provinces relaunched the campaign to raise the farmgate prices of tobacco to a minimum of ₱128 per kilo. The current farmgate price remains pegged at around ₱97 per kilo, at times plunging to ₱50, depending on classification and quality.

Every two years, the “tripartite talks,” supervised by the National Tobacco Administration (NTA), set the farmgate price of tobacco. Tobacco traders, manufacturers, and farmers attend the meeting. The NTA usually favors and listens to the merchants and businessmen in these meetings. Tobacco farmers said the NTA very clearly colludes with companies.

In October 2023, the tobacco farmgate price increased by only ₱3.90-₱9.90 per kilo for 2024-2025. The NTA even boasted that the increase was the highest in the past two decades. The last ₱10-per-kilo increase happened in 2008-2009.

A new round of consultations or Pre-Tripartite Conference is being launched this September for the price increase set for 2026-2027.

Ignored and repressed

In Ilocos, the NTA did not invite and refused to allow the Stop Exploitation-KMP members to participate and express their side in the meeting held in Candon City on September 11. Stop Exploitation staged a picket at the meeting and asserted their right to participate.

Their persistence pressured the local NTA to let in group representatives and hear their call. “There is no tobacco industry without the farmers,” the group’s spokesperson Julie Balangue said.

Not only were they ignored, but peasant leaders who attended the meeting also experienced outright repression from state forces. Days after the meeting, police visited the house of Kalipunan dagiti Mannalon Ken Mangngalap iti Probinsya ti Ilocos Sur leader Teresita Taliboguen in Barangay Maradodon, Cabugao.

The police failed to meet Taliboguen, but according to the group, the police clearly intended to intimidate and stop her from actively participating in actions for the rights and welfare of Ilocos Sur farmers.

Fair price

To avoid losses, tobacco farmers need to sell their produce at more than ₱128 per kilo, which is far from the current minimum price of ₱81-₱97. Farmers insist that increasing the buying price of tobacco is only fair because production costs and labor expenses also keep rising.

According to a study by Ilocos peasant group Stop Exploitation, tobacco farmers spend 232 days on the entire process of planting until selling. They spend at least ₱91,877 on production and usually pay around ₱13,500 as rent for one hectare of farmland. On top of that are expenses for workers’ food and other emergency costs.

The price increase will also support the daily needs of a five-member peasant family. Based on the group’s study, a family requires at least ₱739.75 per day to meet necessities.

This year, tobacco farmers are pushing for an increase of ₱16.96-₱69.98 in the price of batek, native, Virginia, and Burley tobacco. They also demand the removal of the unreasonable classification system, which solely aims to undervalue prices. They also call for better conditions in tobacco contract growing.

The majority of tobacco farms are in Ilocos (66%), followed by Cagayan Valley (19%). The sector involves 2.1 million Filipinos, including an estimated 430,000 farmers, farmworkers, and their families.