The purchasing of illegal cigarettes has increasingly become a normal behavior among adult smokers in the Philippines and three other countries, according to a study by Japan Tobacco International (JTI).

Based on its study titled “Fighting the Dark Underworld,” which also included France, the United Kingdom, and Canada, it was found that there was about 33 percent of adult Filipino smokers said they are willing to patronize illegal cigarettes.

Meanwhile, about 43 percent of the smokers surveyed in total said it is “comfortable buying cigarettes that they know to have been produced or sold illegally.”

Still, despite this, half of the smokers surveyed felt that the illegal tobacco trade is a threat to the country, said Robert Eugenio, JTI Philippines director for fiscal and regulatory affairs.

Eugenio stated illicit tobacco trade is a global problem that world governments need to address before it becomes “normalized.”

“In some areas in Mindanao, eight out of 10 cigarettes sold come from illegal sources,” he said.

Government revenues from the tobacco industry have fallen from a record-high tax collection of P176 billion in 2021 to just P135 billion in 2023, which can be partly attributed to rampant tobacco smuggling, according to Eugenio.

Meanwhile, for this year, the government has so far lost around P7 billion from illegal cigarettes and vape products.

The JTI official lauded Congress for approving the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage bill, which classifies tobacco smuggling as an act of economic sabotage, that can boost the government’s campaign against tobacco illicit trade.

He also cited President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s recent directive to intensify the fight against the illicit tobacco trade as providing a strong impetus even before the bill was signed into law.

Aside from a consistent and intensified enforcement of the laws up to prosecution and conviction, he also cited tightened border controls and a re-examination of the country’s excise tax laws as other possible policy considerations.