The Department of Justice (DOJ) has decided to give the owner and some top officials of tobacco firm Mighty Corp. due process in connection with its supposed failure to pay its tax liabilities with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
In a news statement, Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II explained that it did not heed President Duterte’s order to arrest Mighty Corp. owner Alex Wongchuking when the latter sought an audience with him last Tuesday, since no cases have been filed against him.
“We just talked. He expressed his willingness to fully cooperate with any investigation that may involve him. Why he was not arrested? At the time of our meeting yesterday [Tuesday], there were no cases filed against Mr. Alex Wongchuking yet, that is why I did not order [for] his arrest,” Aguirre said.
It can be recalled that Duterte ordered Wongchuking’s arrest for “economic sabotage”. Wongchuking is being investigated by the bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Customs (BOC) for alleged tax evasion and other possible charges.
Aguirre said, instead of immediately arresting Wongchuking, representatives of Mighty Corp., the BIR and the BOC, together with the DOJ, “should sit down and fully determine the exact liabilities” of the tobacco firm, if any.
The DOJ secretary assured that the government is determine to collect Mighty Corp.’s tax obligations once it is established.
“If the DOF or the BIR or the BOC will determine that a criminal case should be filed against Mighty Corp., its officers or against Alex Wongchuking with us at the DOJ, then we will faithfully discharge our duty and determine if probable cause exists,” Aguirre said.
“There is no reason to have Alex Wongchuking arrested as of the moment. While the Department of Justice is at the forefront of ensuring that our laws be faithfully obeyed, there is a process that has to be observed under the law,” he added.
The BOC earlier said it is readying charges of smuggling against those behind the shipments of Mighty brand cigarette bearing fake tax stamps that were seized in successive raids in Pampanga, General Santos, Cebu and Tacloban.
The BOC’s legal service is already building a case against those behind the importation of the cigarettes, which it described as “counterfeit.”
It can be recalled that the BOC and the BIR confiscated 11,044 master cases of Mighty brand cigarettes worth P215 million in General Santos City and 62,200 master cases valued at P1.98 billion in San Simon, Pampanga.
Earlier this week, BOC seized three more containers carrying Mighty cigarettes in the Port of Cebu and in Tacloban in an operation led by Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon himself. Faeldon said the boxes were said to be part of several shipments of Mighty cigarettes bearing fake tax stamps.
In a separate news statement, the BOC said it has the authority to seize smuggled cigarette packs bearing fake tax stamps found on the premises of cigarette manufacturing or storage facilities or those found in the domestic market pursuant to its border security mandate under Executive Order (EO) 127.
It also cited Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), which gave the bureau the jurisdiction over imported articles until after payment of duties, taxes and other charges due upon the imported goods.