CIGARETTES WORTH P142M DESTROYED
Items seized last March 6 by joint operation of BIR and of Customs
The Duterte administration started yesterday destroying almost five million packs of cigarettes worth P142.44 million, all bearing the brands sold by Mighty Corporation.
The 9,496 master cases or 4,748,000 packs of cigarettes of Mighty Menthol 100s, Marvels Menthol, Marvels FK and King Full Flavor brands—all manufactured by Mighty Corp.- -were destroyed at the Holcim Philippines Incorporated Geocycle compound in Bunawan, Davao City.
The cigarettes were seized last March 6 in a joint opera- tion done by a composite team from the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and of Customs (BOC) on a warehouse leased to Mighty Corp. in General Santos City. They were seized for having counterfeit tax stamps.
“The decision to destroy these confiscated cigarettes came easily. We imposed sin taxes on these products in part to protect the health of our people. It would be wrong to release these products to the market,” said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III in his remarks read for him at the event by Assistant Secretary Kelvin Lee of the Office of the Executive Secretary.
Dominguez said the destruction of the seized cigarettes “is intended to deliver this message: tax evasion does not pay. We will confiscate the offending products and destroy them. No one will profit from the commission of a crime.”
According to the BIR, the es-
Complaints against Mighty had since been withdrawn after the company, with main headquarters in Bulacan, offered last July to settle its tax liabilities with the government for P25 billion and shut down its operations.
timated deficiency excise tax liability of the seized cigarettes, including penalties, would have amounted to P1.39 billion.
The destruction of the 4.748 million packs will take place in batches because of their enormous quantity, further underscoring the scale of tax fraud attempted by the erring firm, DOF said.
About eight tons of cigarettes per day will be destroyed.
The government is also set to destroy 66,245 cases of Mighty cigarettes confiscated in San Simon, Pampanga, another 163,183 cases in San Ildefonso, Bulacan and other smaller stockpiles confiscated in Tacloban and Cebu.
The seized cigarettes were also used as evidence in the complaints filed before the Department of Justice.
The complaints against Mighty had since been withdrawn after the company, with main headquarters in Bulacan, offered last July to settle its tax liabilities with the government for P25 billion and shut down its operations.
Mighty Corp. subsequently sold its assets to Japan Tobacco International to help pay off its tax arrears.
Dominguez has said that the government could gain over P30 billion in additional revenues from Mighty’s tax settlement once the value-added tax from the sale and other fees are paid.