ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Marcos wants beefed-up drive vs tobacco, vape products smuggling

Marcos wants beefed-up drive vs tobacco, vape products smuggling

Published May 9, 2024 05:06 am

At A Glance

  • The tobacco industry provides livelihood to 2.2 million Filipinos. In 2023, the tobacco excise tax composed four percent of total government revenues or P135 billion.
  • The government earmarks 50 percent of excise tax collection for Universal Health Care under the Department of Health (DOH) and PhilHealth as well as for the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP).

President Marcos told the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to step up their efforts to protect the country’s tobacco industry against the smuggling of tobacco and vape products.

President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Noel Pabalate)
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Noel Pabalate)

Marcos said this during the sixth Private Sector Advisory Council-Agriculture Sector Group (PSAC-ASG) meeting in Malacañan on Wednesday, May 8.

In his remarks, the President recognized the government's anti-smuggling measures but asked the BOC and the BIR to intensify their enforcement.

"Enforcement and anti-smuggling and all that. You really have to beef them up and I think we’re doing that," he said.

"There will be [more efforts] with the Bureau of Customs and BIR so that we can improve performance in that regard," he added.

In response, Special Assistant to the President on Economic and Economic Affairs Frederick Go said the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Consumer Protection Group will assign a significant number of people dedicated to monitoring the vape industry.

BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. told the President that his agency has intensified its crackdown against smuggled vape products and will implement a tax stamp system to fish out the illicit ones.

For its part, the PSAC-ASG made several recommendations and policy requirements to protect the tobacco industry.

The advisory body pushed a move tasking the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to release funds as prescribed under Republic Act No. 4155 for the National Tobacco Authority (NTA) Sustainable Tobacco Enhancement Program (STEP).

It also sought amendments to the Anti-Agri Smuggling Act of 2016 to include tobacco products. The body also wants provisions on minimum retail price (MRP) and penalties for distributing and selling smuggled products.

The body also called on the DTI to set a deadline for the registration of importers and manufacturers of vapor products and the BIR to start imposing tax requirements on tobacco and vapor products.

"There must also be sustained enforcement of laws against smugglers and retailers of smuggled tobacco and vapor products," the group said.

"Operations involving these products should also be reported to the Office of the President on a monthly basis," it added.

The tobacco industry provides livelihood to 2.2 million Filipinos. In 2023, the tobacco excise tax composed four percent of total government revenues or P135 billion.

The government earmarks 50 percent of excise tax collection for Universal Health Care under the Department of Health (DOH) and PhilHealth as well as for the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP).

Related Tags

Bongbong Marcos Tobacco Indsutry Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) President Marcos
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.