Tag: Philippines

Philippines Using Drones to Map Plantations

The Philippines National Tobacco Administration (NTA) has started using drones to map tobacco plantations nationwide, reports The Manila Times.
According to NTA Administrator and CEO Belinda Sanchez, drone technology is part of a digitalization program that will also help validate tobacco plantation data.
The drones’ high-resolution aerial imaging and geospatial analysis will accurately measure plantation areas and will help farmers in estimating the volume of production.
Each of the eight NTA branch offices was issued one DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise Drone while an additional unit was provided to the Farm Technology and Services Department.
NTA Undersecretary Deogracias Victor Savellano said the use of drones was in line with Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.’s push for modernization and digitalization in the agency.
NTA Deputy Administrator for Operations Nestor Casela and Deputy Administrator for Support Services Benedicto Savellano said the technology would help the NTA in ensuring fairness in tobacco plantation validation and enhancing its regulatory ability.
December 18, 2024
Philippine Tobacco Farmers to Receive Cash

Photo: PMFTC
The National Tobacco Administration (NTA) of the Philippines is poised to distribute PHP100 million ($1.73 million) to qualified tobacco farmers nationwide, reports GMA News.
The organization has identified 16,666 tobacco farmers as recipients of the cash assistance amounting to PHP6,000 each, which will be distributed on or before Dec. 15, 2024.
The funds are intended to cover tobacco farmer-recipients’ production for cropping year 2024-2025, which began in September 2024 and will conclude by June 2025.
The NTA said the recipients were identified by the agency’s branch offices based on the guidelines set and approved by the NTA governing board.
Among the recipients are 9,055 contract growers and 7,611 are non-contract growers.
The NTA said that beneficiaries of the cash assistance must be registered tobacco farmers with the agency and are personally tilling a tobacco farm “capable of providing adequate labor to attend to all activities in quality tobacco production, able to provide basic farm tools and equipment, such as plow, harrow, sprayer, work animal, irrigation pump, and curing bar/air curing shed, and should have adequate sources of good quality irrigation water and desirable for tobacco production.”
December 5, 2024
President Invited to Address Illicit Trade Forum

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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been invited to address the opening day of the National Tobacco Administration’s (NTA) second anti-illicit trade summit, which will take place in Quezon City on Oct. 23- 24. The first event took place in August 2023.
The summit is expected to attract more than 200 participants from the farming sector, tobacco companies and media outlets, among other stakeholders.
Anchored on the theme: “Advancing the Local Tobacco Industry and Combating Illicit Trade,” the forum will focus on the ongoing government efforts in the war against illicit tobacco trade in the Philippines.
“Addressing the illicit tobacco trade requires a whole of national approach, and multi-faceted strategies that include strengthening national policies, enhancing regional cooperation, improving enforcement mechanisms and increasing public awareness,” said NTA Administrator and CEO Belinda S. Sanchez in a statement.
In recent years, the Philippine tobacco industry has faced significant challenges due to the illicit tobacco trade.
According to the NTA, the illicit tobacco trade adversely impacts government revenue, public health, national security and farmer livelihoods. The Bureau of Internal Revenue estimates that the national government misses out on up to PHP100 billion ($1.71 billion) annually in tax receipts due to illicit tobacco trade.
Data from the NTA shows 2.2 million Filipinos financially depend on tobacco, including more than 430,000 farmers, farm workers and their family members.
October 23, 2024
Philippine Raids Net Multiple Illicit Vape Sellers

Nationwide raids in the Philippines uncovered illicit seller 408 sellers vape products, whose operations are unregistered or whose products do not carry the appropriate revenue stamps, reports Business World.
illicit retailers and resellers were found not only in metropolitan Manilla, but also in other places, including Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan and Benguet.
Beginning June 1, the BIR required all vape manufacturers and sellers to affix internal revenue stamps on their products to indicate tax compliance.
Republic Act 11900 instructs the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to order the immediate recall, ban or seizure from public sale or distribution of vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products or novel tobacco products not registered with the BIR, including those sold online.
The BIR intends to conduct regulator raids on illegal vape sellers. “I have ordered weekly raids against illicit vape retailers, wherever they may be found,” said BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr.
In the first half of the year, the BIR estimated foregone revenue of around PHP7.2 billion ($124.47 million) from seized vape and tobacco products.
October 22, 2024
Philippines to Miss Tobacco Tax Goal

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The Philippines will miss its PHP362.2 billion ($6.32. billion) excise tax collection goal this year due to declining demand for tobacco products, reports Business World. Tobacco excise accounts for more than 40 percent of the country’s excise tax take, according to Jethro Sabariaga, assistant commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
Sabariaga noted that tobacco consumption has been steadily decreasing over the past decade “You don’t see a lot of people smoking cigarettes these days. Even visually, you can confirm the shift in market demand,” Sabariaga said, adding that the collection growth in other excisable articles will not be enough to offset the decline in tobacco excise.
The public’s shift to vape products has also been affecting the bureau’s excise tax take, according to Sabariaga. A single vape product is equal to one cigarette pack in excise taxes, but vape products often take longer to consume, he said.
“So, a cigarette smoker shifting to vape, who usually consumes 10 to 15 packs of cigarettes a month, will probably just buy one vape product for the month, or worse, one for two months,” Sabariaga was quoted as saying.
The BIR has also faced challenges in collecting excise taxes due to the stubborn illicit trade in tobacco products.
In the first half of 2024, the agency lost around PHP7.2 billion in potential revenue from seized tobacco and vape products.
October 21, 2024
Philippines Urged to Regulate Flavors

Photo: Borgwaldt Flavors
Researchers urged the Philippine government to regulate flavored tobacco and mandate plain packaging, citing the country’s obligation as a signatory to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, reports The Manila Times.
“Historically, tobacco companies have used flavoring agents to enhance the appeal of tobacco consumption, encourage initiation and experimentation of tobacco use, and sustain tobacco use,” researchers of the Ateneo de Manila University were quoted as saying.
“However, the Philippines currently does not regulate flavored tobacco products, despite the increasing market shares of flavored tobacco products and novel technologies, such as crushable capsules.”
In a recent study of 106 cigarette and cigar products, only 62 turned out to have flavor descriptors.
October 17, 2024
Philippines to Step Up Anti-Smuggling Fight

Photo: PMFTC
The Philippines will step up its fight against tobacco smuggling, reports ABS-CBN, citing a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) announcement on Oct. 3.
On Sept. 26, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage law, which aims to make food more affordable and provide better income to local farmers. The law classifies smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, cartel formation and financing of these crimes involving agricultural and fishery products as acts of economic sabotage. Violators risk life imprisonment and fines up to five times the value of the goods involved.
BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. emphasized that the agency will keep a close watch on tobacco smuggling as the national government loses billions of pesos from excise tax violations. This is also meant to protect the livelihood of local tobacco farmers.
The BIR said it will continue coordinating with the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) and other law enforcement agencies for anti-tobacco smuggling efforts.
The illicit trade of tobacco causes serious loss of revenue, business closures, decrease in local demand and environmental degradation in the economy, according to the NTA.
October 4, 2024
Regulations Decimate Philippine Vape Sector

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Onerous government regulations have forced about one-fifth of Philippine vaping companies out of business, according to Philippine E-Cigarette Industry Association President Joey Dulay. Importers, he added, have found it easier to comply than their domestic counterparts.
“But we are pushing them to try and comply,” Dulay was quoted as saying by Business World.
Under the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act, manufacturers or importers must register their products and secure licenses to operate.
They are also required to adhere to packaging standards and pay duties and taxes.
Manufacturers, distributors and importers were given an 18-month transition period to comply with the regulations laid down in the vape law.
Dulay noted that many vape brands and manufacturers have yet to secure their Philippine standard quality and/or safety mark and import commodity clearance sticker.
By the end of August, the Bureau of Customs had confiscated PHP6.5 billion ($115.21 million) worth of illegal vape products, mostly from China.
The government is estimated to miss around PHP5 billion yearly from illicit vape products.
October 3, 2024
Stakeholders Welcome ‘Economic Sabotage’ Law

Photo: PMFTC
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sept. 26 signed a law protecting the agricultural sector, including tobacco growers, from illegal products, reports the Manila Standard.
The Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act aims to make food more affordable and provide better income to local farmers. The law classifies smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, cartel formation and financing of these crimes involving agricultural and fishery products as acts of economic sabotage. Violators risk life imprisonment and fines up to five times the value of the goods involved.
“We are deeply grateful to President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. and his administration for their unwavering support in enacting this law,” said Saturnino Distor, president of the Philippine Tobacco Growers Association (PTGA), after the signing of Republic Act No. 12022. “With its implementation, we are hopeful that tobacco farming will receive adequate protection against the entry of illegal products.”
The PTGA, which represents 50,000 tobacco farmers, described the law as a critical step to protect the industry from smuggled tobacco. Distor noted that illegal cigarettes harm farmers, especially with the rising prices of legal cigarettes due to tax increases. “We hope the government’s action against smugglers will improve the state of Philippine tobacco and bring relief to our farmers and their families,” he said.
“We’ve seen the damaging impact of smuggling, particularly the proliferation of fake and illegal nicotine products,” said Anton Israel, founder of the Nicotine Consumption Union of the Philippines. “This new law strengthens the fight against illicit cigarette and e-cigarette trade,” he said.
September 30, 2024
Philippines Lowers Minimum Prices

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The Philippines tax authority has lowered the floor prices for tobacco products, citing lower production costs, reports Business World.
The floor price is the minimum price of products and is set by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), which considers production costs, excise tax and value-added tax in its calculations.
Under Revenue Regulations No. 016-2024, the floor price of a pack of cigarettes was lowered to PHP78.58 ($1.41) from PHP114.60 last year. A ream of cigarettes now costs PHP785.80 compared with PHP1,146 previously.
The floor price for heated-tobacco products was cut to PHP60.11 per pack from PHP120.40.
A 2 mL pod of nicotine salt now has a floor price of PHP180.67, down from PHP200 a year earlier. The floor price of a 10 mL bottle was set at PHP679.12.
A 10 mL bottle of classic nicotine, by contrast, now costs PHP181.72, up from the PHP179.20 set a year earlier, while the floor price of a 30 mL bottle was PHP263.73, down from PHP403.20 previously.
Retailers selling below the floor price risk fines of up to PHP500,000 and up to six years’ imprisonment.
“We are warning all e-marketplaces, online sellers, retail sellers, suppliers and distributors that are selling vapes, cigarettes and heated-tobacco products below the floor price … this is a criminal violation penalized by imprisonment of the seller,” said BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr.
September 19, 2024