Hecho a mano

There are mainly two scents that capture my fondest childhood memories — the smell of a horse and the smell of tobacco. Focusing on tobacco, as a little girl, I always knew when my uncles were around as the smell of Cohiba cigars lingered in every corner of a Spanish apartment I would stay in across the Plaza de Toros. It was the same smell I looked forward to when they would come to the Philippines and, just like former president Fidel Ramos, it seemed like a permanent fixture on them wherever we went.

I have often spoken about my roots, which eventually made it easier for me to make fruitful connections in order to understand our history. Tobacco was introduced by the Spaniards during the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade, where 50 kilos of Cuban tobacco seeds were brought into the country. As early as the 17th century, Manila cigars became quite popular even in Europe and while I was accustomed to seeing my jolly uncles smoke the usual Cohibas, I also saw them transition to the Manila cigars, which they often asked us to take back to them during our visits abroad.

Tabacalera Incorporada not so long ago said that cigars were a symbol of wealth and success, but what really captured my attention was the connection it made for Filipinos to our past. While history has shown how the Spaniards introduced this to us, it also tells us about our former colonizers whose imposed monopoly on the tobacco industry contributed to the downfall of Spanish colonial rule. At the same time, however, history also shows us that when Filipinos switched to cigarettes, the industry plummeted.

Totalmente hecho a mano simply means that everything is completely made by hand. Tabacalera Incorporada has been manufacturing the first hand-rolled Philippine cigars for over 135 years. With the same standard of production that Tabacalera maintains, the likes of Alhambra (my personal favorite) draw natural attention with the finest tobacco also sourced from Isabela province. Tradition combined with credible branding makes their products simply world class and it is something we can be proud of.

I fondly remember former Spanish Ambassador Jorge Domecq who opened my eyes to the history of Tabacalera in the Philippines where we too must appreciate what Spain has done in terms of development during the second half of the 19th century. The Battle of Manila in 1945 destroyed the Tabacalera building during the Japanese occupation but the ruins of war did not encroach on the practice of trade and tradition that is enabling us to re-educate ourselves today on the merits that may be attributed to good business practice and, more so, promoting a sense of nationalism for our own products.

While my childhood memories have enabled me to bring from the past the lessons necessary for the present, the most important venture that any of us, whether we be in business or in education (my usual official stand), is that the bridge that connects us is the same bridge that propels us. Looking back is the only way to build into a better future and we must simply embrace it. Our very own cigars manufactured by Tabacalera Incorporada are hand-made products that are not only unique; they are special. Our past has also clearly showed us our economic history, thus, we must learn from it.