THE Mindanao region has now ‘captured” the lion’s share of the illegal tobacco market in the country with illicit incidence hitting as high as 45 percent followed by the region of Luzon at eight percent and Visayas region with six percent illegal cigarettes incidence.
National Tobacco Administration (NTA) regulation manager Rohbert Ambros who was main speaker during the National Press Club (NPC) regional workshop entitled Media In the Time of Fakes said illegal cigarettes are spreading across the country with notable expansion in Mindanao areas led by Zamboanga and Caraga regions.
Citing industry data, Ambros told the workshop participants comprised of journalists that in many areas in Mindanao, nine out of ten cigarette sticks sold are from illegal sources or were smuggled and did not pay taxes.
In Luzon, Bataan has the highest incidence of illegal tobacco at 58 percent while Visayas has Biliran province with six percent.Ambros said illegal cigarettes are sold between P3 to P4 per stick compared to the P8.55 per stick of legit and tax cigarette brands.
The NTA official likevwise bared the three kinds of llegal clgarettes which are contraband, counterfeit and illicit whites.
Contraband cigarettes, he said, are genuine products that are smuggled and sold illegally while counterfeit tobacco are poor copies of genuine cigarettes that are sold illegally and also do not pay taxes.
Illicit whites, which have grown in volumes over the years, are tobacco products that are legally produced in a foreign country then sold illegally in another country like the Philippines.
Ambros said fake or illegal cigarettes are sold very cheap with no tax stamp or with fake stamp, no graphic health warnings and do not bear textwarnings in both Filliplno and English.
Industry data also reveal that the ilegal cigarettes mainly come from Indonesia and Malaysia transported by sea and distributed by land with entry points in Zamboanga, General Santos, Davao and Palawan.
The NTA official nevertheless recommended, among others, a stronger cooperation with neighboring countries to stop the flow of illegal cigarettes, stringent enforcement of criminal penalties of smuggling; empowerment of consumers through public awareness campaign; and promotion of local private-public partnerships to combat illegal tobacco trade.
The NTA led by administrator Belinda Sanchez has also been distributing anti-tobacco smuggling posters all-over the country and has conducted live webinars on illegal tobacco trade in cooperation with the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
Government revenues from the tobacco industry have dramatically dronped from a record high taxcollection of P176 billion in 2021 to P135 bilion in 2023 which can bapartly attributed to rampant tobacco smuggling.
Estimates by both Congress and the BIR placed the annual losses from illicit tobacco trade from a low of P60 billÃon to a high of P100 billion.
This has prompted President Marcos to order all government agencies including law enforcement units to intensify the fight against the illicit tobacco trade to recover ost revenues and protect the country’s tobacco farmers.
Congress and the Senate have legislated a bill that will make the smuggling of tobacco as an act of economic sabotage with very high penalties and longer prison terms.
The bill which has been ratified by both houses late last year now awaits the signature of the Pirealdant to become law.
