Criminal complaints were filed against three Chinese nationals before the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor in Villasis.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has seized counterfeit tax stamps and several machines used for printing them and packaging bogus cigarette brands worth a combined P206.6 million during a recent joint operation with police and local government officials in a factory in Villasis, Pangasinan.

BIR deputy commissioner Arnel Guballa told Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III that the operation in September yielded fake internal revenue stamps worth P6.6 million, while the estimated worth of the 20 units of machines seized was placed at P200 million.

“The BIR apprehended and seized several printing, gilding, cutting, stamping and module machines at a factory located at Barangay. Bacag in Villasis, Pangasinan.

The unregistered equipment were being used to illegally produce and print fake cigarette packing and packaging, and bogus cigarette tax stamps,” Guballa said.

Also, other confiscated materials such as inks, rollers, cardboards, straps and chemicals used in the illicit activity were accounted for and witnessed by representatives from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the local government of Villasis.

Criminal complaints were filed against three Chinese nationals before the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor in Villasis for violating Sections 254, 258 and 265 of the National Internal Tax Code, which pertains to tax evasion and the manufacture and use of fake tax stamps.

To help stop the entry of unauthorized cigarette-making machines, which mostly originate from China, the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) signed in August an intergovernmental accord defining the scope and guidelines that aim to strengthen the cooperation and mutual assistance on customs matters between the two countries.

Dominguez earlier said the agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance covers GACC’s commitment to assist the BoC in monitoring and stopping the entry of unauthorized cigarette-making machines from China.

Dominguez directed the BoC and BIR earlier this year to work with their counterparts in China to stop the illicit entry of these equipment that are being used to manufacture counterfeit tobacco products.

Dominguez issued the order after confirming from BIR commissioner Caesar Dulay that the illegal tobacco trade has shifted from smuggling cigarettes to producing locally counterfeit brands using undocumented machines acquired mostly from China.