COMMENTARY
Misuse of Funds Leads to Further Exploitation of Tobacco Farmers
RA 7171 serves as the
only law that can help the tobacco farmers continue their livelihood and
keep the industry alive. Nonetheless, if the current trend of using its
funds for creating bridges, municipal halls or other activities continues,
the tobacco farmers will remain at the losing end.
BY ZOFIA LEAL
Bulatlat
Republic Act No. 7171
states that 15 percent of all the excise tax on
cigarettes is automatically set aside for the
Virginia tobacco-producing
provinces. Ilocos Sur Governor Luis Singson authored the law when he was
still a congressman.
RA 7171, however,
has also been the cause of many disputes. During the term of former
President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, the misuse of RA 7171, among other
cases, was used against him in the impeachment case against him. Out of
the P200 million given for the province of
Ilocos Sur,
P130 million reportedly went to the former president.
In
Rosario, La Union, then Vice Mayor Alberto Nidoy and other members of his
Sangguniang Bayan (Municipal Council) filed a criminal complaint for
malversation, technical malversation, falsification of public document and
violation of Republic Act No. 3019 which is the Anti-Graft and Corruption
Act, against the respondents, Josephine Flores and Violeta U. Garcia,
mayor and treasurer, respectively, of the same municipality at the Office
of the Ombudsman on April 23, 1999. The fund for RA 7171 was supposedly
transferred by the respondents to other banks than the one set by the
government. A mismatch of the amount in the documents was also
stated.
RA 7171
was initially created for the advancement of the tobacco industry and its
farmers. Nonetheless, it has been used by public officials to gather more
funds, not for the farmers, but for themselves. In the face of the many
cases that had been filed by legislators against one another, it is the
farmers that continue to suffer.
Until now, the
funds that are being received by the local government units (LGUs) under
RA 7171 are being used for other purposes.
In the
city of Candon, Ilocos Sur in the year 2001-2002, most of the programs and
projects were taken from the funds of RA 7171. These include the
completion of the public market (P6 million), improvement and/or
concreting of farm to market roads (P7.5 million), construction or repair
of bridges (P16.6 million), creation of drainage canals and seawalls (P3.6
million), and even construction of public buildings and facilities such as
the civic center (P2 million), senior citizens center (P1 million), San
Isidro multi-purpose complex (P500,000) and the San Jose Barangay Health
Center (P150,000).
In
2005, an amount of P25.75 million was taken from RA 7171 funds for the use
of development projects, programs and activities also in Candon. It can be
noted however, that out of the 14 listed only four projects will benefit
the farmers. Even the construction of a new city hall was included in the
list (P5 million). Other projects include tourism development (P1.3
million), improvement of barangay (village) roads, electrification
program, construction or improvement of school buildings, construction or
improvement of multi-purpose halls, and repair of bridges.
Tobacco
farmers already face a number of problems such as the riseko, down
grading of produce, contract
growing, excessive charging, and low prices. If properly used, RA 7171
funds would at least help in easing the burden of the tobacco farmers. The
call of Solidarity of Peasants Against Exploitation (Stop-Ex) is for the
funds to be given directly to the farmers or the organizations that they
belong to so they would directly benefit the farmers.
If and when the time
comes that Stop-Ex would receive the funds, it would be used to buy the
agricultural tools and to provide for the capital needed by the farmers in
the production of tobacco.
RA 7171 serves as the
only law that can help the tobacco farmers continue their livelihood and
keep the industry alive. Nonetheless, if the current trend of using its
funds for creating bridges, municipal halls or other activities continues,
the tobacco farmers will remain at the losing end. Bulatlat
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