Local Tobacco Firm Warns Against Foreign Monopoly

Filipino Owned and controlled Cigarette Manufacturer Mighty Corporation released a warning that a foreign dominated monopoly is out to kill all remaining low-priced local cigarette brands in the market.

“Recent moves by our competitors, particularly a multinational company, against MC indicate a calibrated campaign to bring us to our knees and push us out of the picture,” said MC Executive Vice President Oscar P. Barrientos.

Local Tobacco Firm Warns Against Foreign Monopoly

In an earlier report, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima was quoted as saying, “It is natural for Philip Morris to fight change because you want to keep your monopolistic position. But in this environment, why should we, as a country, allow a monopoly?” 

“These baseless and malicious accusations merely mask the real agenda of our competitor which is to kill off all other local brands, especially the low-priced ones,” as Barrientos said with regards to MCs technical smuggling and tax evasion accusations.

In 2010, The biggest cigarette manufacturer in the country is Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. merged with local cigarette manufacturer Fortune Tobacco Corp.

PMFTC controls 94% of the cigarette market, making it one of the most successful monopolies in the Philippines.

"A foreign-dominated monopoly of the market was geared towards promoting mid-market brands since profit margins in the low-cost brand category were low," said Barrientos.

“They want to kill off all remaining low-cost local brands in the market by hook or by crook so that the playing field will be cleared for their expensive foreign brands,” the MC executive added.

“This is a critical moment in the local tobacco industry’s history, and in fact for Philippine industry in general as well,” he said.

Barrientos said MC would address all the accusations thrown against them and exhaust all legal means to fight off the monopoly’s alleged efforts to kill off other local brands that it has not yet acquired.

“We’ll fight them for sure. It’s an uphill battle, but we cannot and will not allow a foreign bully to just trample on us and any other Filipino company that it views as a threat to its campaign for market domination. As big as our competitor is, it’s a shame that it has to resort to lies and deceit,” the retired judge said.