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Jean Mangaluz - Philstar.com
April 2, 2025 | 2:39pm
Members of the Bureau of Customs (BoC) destroy around 19,000 boxes of smuggled cigarettes at a port in Zamboanga on April 28, 2023.
Photos courtesy of Roel Pareño
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian expressed alarm over the Bureau of Customs’ low conviction rate for tobacco smuggling cases, with only two out of 1,295 seizures reaching a court decision since 2018.
In a Senate Committee on Ways and Means hearing on Wednesday, April 2, Gatchalian bared the disparity between the bureau's seizure numbers and its case conviction rates.
From 2018 to 2025, the BOC conducted 1,296 seizures of illegal tobacco products. Of these, only 64 cases were filed, with just 14 currently pending before the Office of the Prosecutor.
Only eight cases were filed before the courts, and only two resulted in decisions.
BOC Assistant Commissioner Vincent Philip Maronilla acknowledged the data but said further validation was needed. He explained that the agency has performed entrapment operations but no one would claim ownership of the intercepted packages.
There were even those who said that they did not know that there was a shipment for them, Maronilla said.
Prosecutor Charlie Guhit from the Department of Justice (DOJ) suggested that investigators from his department and Customs require additional training to align their understanding of cases filed for prosecution.
Similar trends at BIR. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), meanwhile, has faced similar challenges.
From 2023 to 2025, the agency conducted 1,636 seizures of illegal tobacco products but filed cases for only 194 incidents. Among these, just 15 reached the Office of the Prosecutor, with 14 proceeding to court, and only one has had a court decision.
BIR Assistant Commissioner James Roldan explained that some offenders opted to pay their due taxes instead of facing legal action, which prevented cases from escalating to law enforcement levels.
Head Revenue Executive Assistant Dondanon Galera added that most offenders were small business owners, such as vape shop operators, who were not pursued further after settling their dues.
Gatchalian, meanwhile, is calling for stronger enforcement. “These raids are just being shown to the public but those who are escaping the raids and not paying their taxes are much bigger than being shown,” the senator said.
