Gatchalian seeks to arrest rising incidence of smuggling of excisable products

Senator Win Gatchalian is seeking to address the rising incidence of illegal trade involving excisable products in a bid to arrest revenue leakages and protect the health of consumers. The government imposes excise tax on alcohol products, tobacco products, cigarette and vapor products, petroleum products, automobiles, non-essential goods and services, sweetened beverages, and mineral products.

"Smuggling of these products is fast becoming rampant and deprives the government of much-needed revenues necessary to finance various programs and projects and sustain economic growth and development," Gatchalian said, as he filed Senate Resolution No. 566.

The resolution seeks to promptly assess the scale of illicit trade in the country, adjust enforcement agencies' priorities and border restrictions, and introduce remedial legislation necessary to address revenue leakages caused by the smuggling of excisable products.

"The rising incidence of illicit trade on excisable products also poses a great risk to the health of consumers when substandard products are manufactured using dangerous and unapproved ingredients," the senator added.

The government in March incurred revenue losses amounting to P1.4 billion due to various brands of smuggled cigarettes in Sulu. Also last month, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cagayan de Oro foiled an attempt to smuggle two containers of cigarettes valued at P160 million. In February, authorities seized P600,000 worth of undocumented cigarettes in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte and some P2 million worth of suspected smuggled cigarettes in Cauayan, Negros Occidental.

Gatchalian cited that as much as 42.8% of total cigarette consumption in the country from 2009-2017 came from illicitly traded tobacco products, based on a study entitled "Measuring Illicit Cigarette Trade: The Case of the Philippines" published in 2021. The country's fiscal losses from illicit alcohol amounted to US$438 million in 2016. The country likewise lost P26.87 billion in tax revenues due to fuel smuggling or misdeclaration in 2016.

In 2021, excise tax collections of the BIR amounted to P317.69 billion which is 15.23% of the total revenue collections of the agency. Of this, P90,128.34 million came from excisable alcohol products, P176,486.48 million came from tobacco products, P7,369.99 million from petroleum products, P35,832.20 million from miscellaneous products, and P7,872.23 million from mineral products.

Tugunan ang tumataas na insidente ng smuggling ng 'excisable products' --Gatchalian

Hangad ni Senador Win Gatchalian na matugunan ang tumataas na insidente ng iligal na kalakalan na kinasasangkutan ng mga produktong pinapatawan ng excise tax upang mahinto at maiwasan ang leakage sa kita ng gobyerno at protektahan ang kalusugan ng mga mamimili.

Ang gobyerno ay nagpapataw ng excise tax sa mga produkto ng alak, sigarilyo, vapor products, mga produktong petrolyo, mga sasakyan, ang mga tinatawag na non-essential goods and services, sweetened beverages, at mineral products.

"Ang pagpupuslit ng mga produktong ito ay mabilis na nagiging talamak at pinagkakaitan ang pamahalaan ng karagdagang kita na kailangan para matustusan ang iba't ibang mga programa at proyekto at mapanatili ang paglago ng ekonomiya," sabi ni Gatchalian, kasunod ng inihain niyang Senate Resolution No. 566.

Ang naturang resolusyon ay naglalayong masuri agad kung gaano kalawak ang ipinagbabawal na kalakalan sa bansa, paigtingin ang mga polisiya ng enforcement agencies pati na ang border restrictions, magpakilala ng mga batas na tutugon sa revenue leakages dulot ng pagpupuslit ng mga excisable products.

"Ang tumataas na bilang ng mga insidente ng 'illicit trade' sa mga produktong pinapatawan ng excise tax ay nagdudulot din ng malaking panganib sa kalusugan ng tao kung ang substandard na mga produkto ay hindi aprubado ng mga otoridad at hindi dumaan sa quality control," dagdag ng senador.

Nawalan ng kita ang gobyerno noong Marso na aabot sa P1.4 bilyon dahil sa iba't ibang produkto ng smuggled na sigarilyo sa Sulu. Noong nakaraang buwan din, nasawata ng Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cagayan de Oro ang tangkang pagpupuslit ng dalawang container ng sigarilyo na nagkakahalaga ng P160 milyon. Noong Pebrero, nasamsam ng mga awtoridad ang P600,000 halaga ng mga undocumented na sigarilyo sa Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte at humigit-kumulang P2 milyong halaga ng hinihinalang smuggled na sigarilyo sa Cauayan, Negros Occidental.

Sinabi ni Gatchalian na aabot sa 42.8% ng kabuuang konsumo ng sigarilyo sa bansa mula 2009-2017 ay mula sa naipuslit na tobacco products, batay sa isang pag-aaral na pinamagatang "Measuring Illicit Cigarette Trade: The Case of the Philippines" na inilathala noong 2021. Ang lugi ng gobyerno mula sa mga produkto ng alak na ipinuslit sa bansa ay umabot sa US$438 milyon noong 2016. Nawalan din ang bansa ng P26.87 bilyon na kita dahil sa fuel smuggling o misdeclaration noong 2016.

Noong 2021, umabot sa P317.69 bilyon ang excise tax collection ng BIR o 15.23% ng kabuuang revenue collection ng ahensya. Sa naturang kita, P90,128.34 milyon ang galing sa excisable alcohol products, P176,486.48 milyon ay mula sa tobacco products, P7,369.99 milyon mula sa petroleum products, P35,832.20 milyon mula sa miscellaneous products, at P7,872.23 milyon mula sa mineral products.