■ 'BRIBERY ATTEMPT' RESULTS IN SEIZURE OF 200,000 PACKS OF CIGARETTES IN CEBU PORT

Duterte orders arrest of Mighty Corp. president Alexander Wongchuking for alleged bribe attempt to the president and for “economic sabotage.”

After its owner allegedly attempted to bribe no less than President Rodrigo Duterte, Mighty Corp.’s 400 boxes of cigarettes were seized by the Philippine Coast Guard yesterday morning. The shipment, which came from Manila, reportedly did not go through the Bureau of Internal Revenue and bore fake government tax stamps. Duterte earlier ordered the arrest of Mighty Corp. president Alexander Wongchuking for economic sabotage and for allegedly trying to bribe him.

The Bureau of Customs confiscated 400 boxes of Mighty cigarettes after it was found to have used fake government tax stamps yesterday morning.

Each box contained 500 packs of cigarettes. This means that a total of 200,000 cigarette packs were kept inside the 400 boxes.

The operation was made shortly after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the arrest of the Mighty Corp. president Alexander Wongchuking for allegedly trying to bribe him and for “economic sabotage.”

“We received intel (intelligence) information that a ship is carrying containers with cigarettes, which didn’t pass through the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR),” said Commander Dionilett Ampil, head of the Coast Guard Cebu.

The Philippine Coast Guard coordinated with the Bureau of Customs and the BIR for the seizure of cigarette boxes.

The cigarettes were placed inside two 20-footer cargo containers ferried by a ship from Manila to be distributed to Cebu.

The cargo containers were moved to a shipping yard in the port area for a complete inventory today. /