Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. TIu Laurel Jr. and First Lady Luisa Araneta-Marcos led the inauguration of the P2.2-billion manufacturing facility of Philip Morris International and its Philippine affiliate, PMFTC, in Batangas on April 15.
In his message, the agri chief thanked the US firm for fulfilling its investment pledge to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and continuing support to tobacco farmers and their families.
The new manufacturing lines, which covers around 1.2 hectares in Tanauan City, will produce specially designed tobacco sticks for PMI’s smoke-free products. This marks another milestone in PMI’s drive towards producing novel products and consumables in the country’s cigarette alternative category.
The agri chief is optimistic local tobacco farmers will continue to benefit from PMI’s and PMFTC’s efforts to further strengthen domestic manufacturing, especially since they started producing finished and semi-finished goods in their state-of-the-art manufacturing plants in Marikina and Batangas. ### (photos by Jay Morales, DA-OSEC)
