This is a reaction to the article titled, “Citizen Lucio Tan focuses on irrigation.” (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 8/19/08)

On the surface, the efforts of Lucio Tan appear to be laudable: P4 million for the rehabilitation of the Silag-Pacang diversion dam, which can irrigate tobacco fields in Ilocos Sur province. But when one looks past the rosy picture, things start to smell fishy.

Tan put money into the dam’s rehabilitation not because he sympathized with the plight of hundreds of tobacco farmers in the area but because he was protecting the interest of his Fortune Tobacco Corp., Ilocos Sur being a source of raw material for his cigarette manufacturing business.

If Tan’s heart is pure, why would his company — as reported by former Ilocos Sur Provincial Board member Elpidio Que — buy Virginia tobacco leaves from farmers in Ilocos for only P40 a kilo but pay the equivalent of P200 per kilo to growers in Yunnan, China for the same type of tobacco?

If Tan is truly benevolent to the tobacco farmers, and considering his massive wealth, has he done anything to eliminate, if not address, the various health problems that tobacco farmers — some of whom are children — suffer? A study in 2002 revealed that several children working in tobacco farms in the Ilocos area suffered various diseases—among them, dermatitis, melanoma, nicotine poisoning, asthma, rhinitis, acute pulmonary responses and burns (from contact with fertilizers and pesticides) — from exposure to too much sunlight and chemical fertilizers.

If he is truly compassionate, Tan should use his riches to help tobacco farmers find better alternative livelihood and income-generating activities that do not put them at risk. (Frustrated by the oppressive pricing and trading practices of buyers, many tobacco farmers have converted to other cash crops.)

The World Health Organization pinpointed tobacco smoking as the leading preventable cause of death worldwide, with about five million people dying each year, or an average of one death every six seconds.

In the Philippines, 87,600 Filipinos — about 8 to 10 every hour — die every year due to just four of tobacco-related diseases: lung cancer, stroke, heart disease and chronic obstructive lung disease. A 2005-2006 study showed that public health spending on the four diseases alone amount to P276 billion. In the same period, the Bureau of Internal Revenue had P92 billion in revenues from the tobacco industry. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out whether or not the country is benefiting from Tan’s tobacco business.

Tan may have shelled out P4 million to rehabilitate a dam, but he knows very well that his company can recover the same amount from the millions of smokers.

Tobacco farmers cannot — and should not — be deprived of livelihood, but this is one situation where we cannot afford to have trade-offs, where there shouldn’t be any losers because the consequences are a matter of life and death.

ANDREA TRINIDAD-ECHAVEZ, program manager, media advocacy, Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP), www.tobaccocontrol.ph