Leaf farmers’ kids get college scholarships

The Wong Chu King Foundation (WCKF), the corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm of Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp, offered 100 college scholarship grants to poor but deserving children of tobacco farmers in Northern Luzon as part of its education program.

Mighty Corp President and CEO Edilberto Adan said that, through WCKF is, they can provide the said program as their way of thanking the farmers for helping the company what it is today. The good new3s was announced during the formal signing rites for the project at a hotel in Bauang, La Union recently.

Under the agreement of Mighty Corp  and the National Federation of Tobacco Farmers and Cooperatives Inc. (NAFTAC), the program is one of three components of a P10-million joint project that aims to benefit 65,000 farmers in Pangasinan, La Union, Abra, Cagayan, Isabela, IlocosNorte and Ilocos Sur.

NAFTAC National President Mario Cabasal, in behalf of the 200 farmer leaders, said  “We are happy that Mighty Corp., through its Wong Chu King Foundation, has stood firm on its commitment to help 65,000 tobacco farmers in the Philippines.”

Mighty CorpExecutive Vice President and Spokesman Oscar Barrientos said the WCKF initially offered scholarships to the dependents of active employees but later expanded this to include dependents of retired employees of the company and poor but deserving students with excellent academic records.

It was also reported that the other components of the project include agricultural production assistance, consisting of 16 hand tractors worth P2.5 million and 90 irrigation pumps worth P1.1 million; and institutional support for the annual search for outstanding tobacco farmers and cooperatives by the National Tobacco Administration (NTA).