PHILIPPINE AMBASSADOR TO CAMBODIA SPEAKS ON THE HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINE TOBACCO INDUSTRY AND PHILIPPINE CIGARS

Phnom Penh, 20 March 2023– Philippine Ambassador to Cambodia  Maria Amelita C. Aquino spoke at a launch event of a cigar lounge at the Le Casablanca Hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 18 March 2023.

In her remarks, she shared a brief history of the Philippines’ tobacco industry, highlighting that Agustinian friars brought cigar tobacco seeds to the Philippines as early as the late 1500s through the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade. She cited the Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas, more known as Tabacalera,  as the oldest cigar company in the Philippines and among the oldest in the world. She noted that the company continues to make cigar as it was done traditionally - totally handmade.

The lounge features and sells Philippine cigars, specifically from the Tabacalera brand.