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How is Excise Tax Helping Tobacco Farmers?: Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon during a virtual Finance Subcommittee B hearing on the Department of Agriculture’s proposed budget Monday, October 19, 2020, asks officials of the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) to submit a report on how the portion of excise tax allocated to tobacco-producing provinces is being used. Drilon asked how much was released from 2017 to 2020, and what programs were undertaken by the NTA and the local government units to uplift the lives of tobacco farmers. “I was executive secretary when President Cory (Aquino) signed Republic Act 7171. It is supposed to allocate 15 percent of excise tax for tobacco-producing provinces. It was designed to help our tobacco farmers,” Drilon said. (Screengrab/ Senate PRIB)