‘Take stand on tobacco excise tax’

BAGUIO CITY: An allied group of tobacco growers challenged presidential candidates to break their silence and take a stand on the alleged corruption and misuse of billions of funds for tobacco farmers.

Zaldy Alfiler, secretary general of the KMP-allied farmers’ organization Solidarity of Peasants Against Exploitation (STOP Exploitation) said, “not a single presidential candidate has aired concrete steps on how farmers, especially the poor and landless tobacco farmers can directly benefit from the local government’s share from the tobacco excise tax.”