update December 2024
The Philippine Tobacco Growers’ Association is a coalition of industry-backed stakeholders who previously opposed excise tax reforms in the Philippines curtailing the consumption of harmful tobacco products.
In recent years, the industry association has supported the passage of legislative measures in the Philippines,[1] such as Republic Act No. 11900,[2] which weakened the regulation of electronic smoking devices, and the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act,[3] which, despite its short title, worked mainly to reinstate some trade protections for tobacco products that have previously been denormalized.
The group has lobbied the Philippine government to represent the tobacco industry’s interests in the Sessions of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.[4] Ultimately, for promoting the tobacco industry’s interests and being obstructionist in the proceedings, the Philippine Delegation to this global tobacco control meeting has been awarded the Dirty Ashtray thrice in 2021 and once in 2024, earning the ire of former health officials.
The PTGA is a member of the International Tobacco Growers Association and has joined the activities of the ITGA to oppose tobacco control. In 2010, when the PTGA was newly formed, its representatives were present at COP4 in Punta Del Este and misled the Philippines government and the public by promoting misinformation about the proposed draft Guidelines of the FCTC’s Articles 9 and 10.
[1] Gutierrez, D. (18 February 2022). Vape bill to secure livelihood of Filipino farmers, groups say. Accessed 26 February 2024 from URL: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1556658/vape-bill-to-secure-livelihood-of-filipino-farmers-groups-say
[2] Republic of the Philippines. (26 July 2021). An act regulating the importation, manufacture, sale, packaging, distribution, use, and communication of vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products, and novel tobacco products. Manila (Philippines): Congress of the Philippines. Retrieved 26 Nov 2024 from URL: https://legacy.senate.gov.ph/republic_acts/ra%2011900.pdf
[3] Republic of the Philippines. (22 July 2024). An act defining the crimes of agricultural economic sabotage, prescribing penalties therefor, vesting jurisdiction over such offenses with the Court of Tax Appeals, providing mechanisms for its implementation and enforcement, repealing for the purpose Republic Act No. 10845 or the “Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.” Manila (Philippines): Congress of the Philippines. Retrieved 26 Nov 2024 from URL: https://legacy.senate.gov.ph/republic_acts/ra%2012022.pdf
[4] Inquirer.NET. (2024 February 2). Tobacco farmers seek government backing at WHO tobacco conference. Accessed 26 Nov 2024 from URL: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1898346/tobacco-farmers-seek-government-backing-at-who-tobacco-conference#ixzz8sdZQx5kL