Alleged anomalous tobacco tax use sparks heated exchange in Isabela

REINA MERCEDES, Isabela — Allegations over the use of P66 million in tobacco excise tax shares sparked a heated exchange between the town’s vice mayor and village officials during a Sangguniang Bayan (municipal council) session on Monday.

Vice Mayor Jeryll Harold Respicio questioned village officials during the council’s question hour about the status of projects funded by the municipality’s tobacco excise tax share, pressing for greater accountability in the use of funds intended to benefit tobacco farmers.

The proceedings, aired live on Respicio’s Facebook account, turned tense as the vice mayor and village officials exchanged heated words, including profanity, while discussing the allocation and implementation of projects funded by the tobacco excise tax.

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Respicio sought updates on projects financed through the previous year’s tobacco excise tax share, including those he said remained unfinished or had yet to be implemented. He also questioned whether the funds were directed toward programs that directly benefited tobacco farmers.

The vice mayor raised concerns over the alleged exclusion of tobacco farmers from the session, saying their presence could have helped clarify questions surrounding the release and use of the funds.

In a statement, Mayor Malou Respicio-Saguban defended the municipal government’s use of the tobacco excise tax funds, saying the allocations complied with legal guidelines governing development funds and supported long-term investments in the town’s barangays.

Reina Mercedes is among Isabela’s major tobacco-producing municipalities and hosts a private tobacco processing company. It receives annual shares from national tobacco excise tax collections under Republic Act No. 8240, which are intended to support programs such as livelihood, cooperative development and infrastructure projects.

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The controversy centers on how the municipality’s P66-million tobacco excise tax share was allocated and implemented, with the vice mayor raising questions over project completion and direct assistance to farmers while the mayor maintained that the funds were used in accordance with government guidelines.

The tobacco excise tax, commonly known as a “sin tax,” is collected from tobacco products, with portions of the proceeds allocated under existing laws to various government programs, including support for tobacco-producing communities. /mcm