Cigarette firm to assist tobacco farmers

MANILA, Philippines - Cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corp. will embark this year on a three-pronged assistance program to benefit 65,000 tobacco farmers in Cagayan Valley and Ilocos Region.

Mighty Corp. executive vice president Oscar Barrientos said the company allocated P10 million for the distribution of 35 irrigations pumps to some 35 farmers associations, 10 mini-tractors in tobacco-growing provinces, tools and farm implements.

Barrientos said the agricultural assistance would serve as common-service production equipment to groups of organized tobacco farmers for tobacco farms that have no access to irrigation facilities and small tractors.

The company will also provide some 20,000 long-sleeved farm shirts to ease the plight of tobacco farmers.

Hand in hand with the agricultural production assistance, the company will launch a scholarship program, in tandem with National Tobacco Administration (NTA) in the two regions for children of tobacco farmers. At present, NTA has en existing scholarship grants to 400 scholars who are provided P5,800 financial assistance each.

“Mighty Corp. will initially support NTA’s scholarship grants with 200 new college scholars this coming school year,” Barrientos said.

The third component of the social responsibility program is Mighty Corp.’s institutional support for the annual search for outstanding tobacco farmers. The search being done by NTA covers three categories, one for Virginia tobacco growers, another for burley tobacco farmers and a third for native tobacco producers.