P3.2-B Mighty cigarettes with fake stamps seized
Raids on two warehouses in Bulacan province yesterday yielded P3.2 billion worth of Mighty cigarettes that have fake tax stamps, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said.
An estimated 160,000 master cases of the locally branded cigarette were found inside two warehouses in Barangay Matimbubong in San Ildefonso, Bulacan.
The first warehouse, said raid team leader Captain Joenel Pogoy, had 145,000 master cases that have an estimated value of P2.9 billion, while the second contained 15,000 master cases with a value of about P300 million.
But Sigfrid Fortun, Mighty Corp. legal counsel, said the BOC has “no authority to inspect excise stamp taxes as it is a function exclusively vested in the Bureau of Internal Revenue.”
“As no fake imported goods or smuggled cigarettes were found inside the warehouse, any action the BOC may take on them will be legally infirm,” Fortun added in a text message.
In a statement, the BOC said its raiding team used a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) stamp verifier to confirm that the cigarettes bore fake tax stamps.
It added that the raid yielded a bigger volume of cigarettes compared to the previous raid in San Simon, Pampanga.
Cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corp. was earlier charged with tax evasion by the BIR, which claimed that the firm had not paid more than P9 billion in taxes.
Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 39 Judge Noli Diaz also dismissed “for lack of jurisdiction” Mighty Corp.’s petition to stop the BOC from conducting raids and inspections on its warehouses. BOC Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon said they would intensify the campaign against smuggling and all other forms of illicit trade that deprive the government of revenues.
“We will not stop in our efforts to weed out those engaged in pernicious activities that undermine and derail the government’s reform agenda,” Faeldon said.
Last March 14, the BOC issued a preventive suspension order against Mighty to prevent the tobacco firm from making further importations.
Alvin Ebreo, BOC legal services division director, said the Bulacan raids might strengthen the order, which Mighty has assailed, arguing that the agency “failed to show a clear violation… to justify the suspension of its accreditation as an importer.”
If the order is not recalled, it might prevent Mighty from transacting with the BOC and from importing raw materials like tobacco leaves, acetate and tow.
But President Duterte prefers a settlement with those who have tax deficiencies rather than file cases which might take years to litigate in various courts.
“I need the money now,” Duterte said during a convention of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry yesterday in Pasay City. “It is not illegal. It is not unlawful for me to suggest this rather than if they choose to fight it in court and the ‘so very slow’ process. I’d rather that a compromise be made. No particular party. Anyone can enter into a compromise. I am suggesting it so I can use the money.”
Former president and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said President Duterte is heading in the right direction in offering an out-of-court tax deal with Mighty, adding that he would do the same if it happened in his city.
“Why not put it to good use? People will benefit from it,” Estrada said. “Because you will always think as a leader, you always put the good of the greater majority ahead of others. Who are they (majority)? It’s the poor.”