A lawmaker emphasized the need for stronger action against e-commerce platforms that enable the sale of illegal cigarettes, suggesting that potential measures like site-blocking could be implemented to address the issue effectively.

Albay Representative Joey Salceda, chairman of Committee on Ways and Means in the lower house, said that he will introduce a bill that will block the sites of online shops that sell illegal cigarettes to minors.

“We will definitely go after Lazada and Shopee. Wala ho yun pag tumanga, eh pinayagan nila eh, kung hindi sila pumayag, eh di sana wala yan,” Salceda told reporters on Tuesday, Oct. 17.

[We will definitely go after Lazada and Shopee, it's pointless if they remain passive. They allow it, if they didn't, then it would be nonexistent.]

“We will block them, we will block Lazada and Shopee once and for all for selling cigarettes to minors and not collecting the right taxes,” he added.

He said that illegal cigarettes sold in these online platforms are labeled “Asian herbs” to “T-shirts.”

“In the review page, buyers indicated that they bought these cigarettes for their sari-sari stores, indicating that the purchase of these cigarettes online is meant for resale to the retail market,” Salceda said in a briefing.

He cited brands of San Marino, Casablanca, Cannon, Fort, and Bravo which were sold at P350 through illegal means in a social media marketplace. In contrast, a ream of Marlboro reds cost around P1,750.

There were no exact figures as to how much illegal cigarettes were sold on these online companies, but the congressman said he them to reveal Shopee how much of “Asian herbs” were sold to Filipino minors.

Further, Salceda said that revenue losses due to illegal tobacco trade may reach P60.6 billion this year if it continues to persist.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue earlier reported that the government is losing P50 billion to P100 billion in tax revenues from the illicit tobacco trade in the country.