SANTIAGO, Ilocos Sur — Declining excise tax collection from the tobacco industry is not solely attributed to widespread smuggling and illicit trade, but also to the decreasing number of tobacco farmers discouraged by low product prices.

This decline threatens to cost the government tens of billions of pesos in tax revenue.

However, Ako Ilokano Representative Richelle Singson vowed to address the plight of tobacco farmers.

“I will look into this problem of our tobacco farmers,” assured Singson.

A field inspection conducted by DAILY TRIBUNE in farming towns observed a significant decrease in tobacco cultivation, with some farmlands now planted with corn.

Farmers disclosed that they have stopped planting tobacco due to government neglect and low prices offered by unscrupulous buyers.

“They undercut the price of our tobacco; they only want to pay what they want,” one farmer lamented.

In Barangay San Jose, only two farmers continued to plant tobacco due to concerns about low prices.

Mayor Michael Miranda said that while tobacco cultivation has declined, some farmers still grow it in upland areas.

According to Bureau of Internal Revenue reports, excise tax collection has steadily decreased in recent years, reaching only P130.9 billion from January to November last year. This is lower than P134.9 billion in 2023, P160.3 billion in 2022, and P176.5 billion in 2021.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian previously stated that while the overall cigarette market declined from 103.3 billion sticks in 2014 to 55.6 billion sticks in 2023, the illicit trade market share rose from 12.2 percent in 2014 to 19.8 percent in 2023.