Cigarette smuggling pushed as‘heinous crime’
JAPAN Tobacco International (JTI) Philippines on Sunday lauded and supported Congress for proposing a bill declaring cigarette smuggling as an “act of economic sabotage.”
JTI Philippines, the maker of Winston cigarettes, expressed its support after Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte First District Rep. Sandro Marcos and PBA Party-List Rep. Margarita Ignacia Nograles filed House Bill (HB) 3917.
HB 3917 seeks to include tobacco, either in its raw or finished form, on the list of agricultural commodities whose illegal importation will be considered a heinous and non-bailable crime under the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.
In the explanatory note, the bill proponents stressed the urgency of addressing the cigarette smuggling issue since it deprives the government of P30 billion to P60 billion annually in revenues.
In a statement, JTI Philippines general manager John Freda said the proposed bill, when passed into law, would put more teeth into the government’s relentless effort to curb the illegal tobacco trade and plug massive revenue losses.
“We appreciate Congressman Marcos and Congresswoman Nograles for championing this bill,” said Freda.
“We view this as a necessary step to make this crime an act of economic sabotage because put simply, it robs the nation’s coffers, which is still reeling from a long-drawn-out pandemic,” explained Freda.
“Not only does it deprive [the] government of much-needed tax revenue at this time, but illegal trade cheats everyone: society, consumers and legitimate businesses,” he further said.
Freda underscored that illegal tobacco sale usually finance much larger criminal activities such as corruption, the smuggling of drugs and weapons, human trafficking and terrorism.
He said state programs and projects dependent on tobacco revenues are diminished by unabated smuggling and counterfeiting.
“JTI Philippines has previously called for stiffer sanctions against cigarette smuggling, which has become more rampant even at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and despite intensified action on the part of law enforcement,” said Freda.