The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has destroyed cigarette-making machines and counterfeit cigarettes worth over a billion pesos that were seized in various raids conducted in Misamis Oriental and Leyte.
In a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the BIR said the goods seized from illicit manufacturing operations uncovered in Cagayan de Oro City in Misamis Oriental and in the cities of Tacloban and Ormoc in Leyte were shipped to, and subsequently destroyed in, a waste disposal facility in Cagayan de Oro last month.
The destroyed goods included raw materials and packaging supplies used for cigarette manufacturing, BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa reported to Dominguez during a recent Department of Finance (DOF) Executive Committee (Execom) meeting.
“The destruction activity, spearheaded by the BIR Operations Group and its Strike Team, was witnessed by representatives from the Commission on Audit (COA), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), local government units (LGUs), local press and revenue regional offices,” Guballa said.
In an earlier report to Dominguez, the BIR said the illegal tobacco trade has shifted from smuggling cigarettes to producing locally counterfeit brands using undocumented cigarette-making machines acquired mostly from China.
During President Duterte’s 5th official visit to China, an Intergovernmental Implementation Agreement was signed by Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero and Minister Ni Yuefeng of the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) defining the scope and guidelines that aim to strengthen the cooperation and mutual assistance on customs matters between the two countries.
Dominguez said this agreement covers GACC’s commitment to assist the BOC in monitoring and stopping the entry into the Philippines of unauthorized cigarette-making machines originating from China.
The Finance chief directed the BOC and the BIR earlier this year to work with their respective counterparts in China to stop the illicit entry of cigarette-making machines that are being used to manufacture counterfeit tobacco products in the country.
Guerrero and Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan also signed a separate agreement on Beijing’s donation of four mobile x-ray container vehicle inspection systems and two luggage inspection systems to the Philippines during the President’s visit to China.
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