Customs and ports officials may soon find themselves in hot water over a P2.6-billion smuggling caper that happened under their collective noses, as Nosy Tarsee has learned the House has lined them up for a mass grilling. 

The House Committee on Ways and Means is set to summon customs officials, led by Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno, as the panel begins its investigation into the resurgence of large-scale tobacco smuggling and its impact on public health and national revenues.

Marikina City Rep. Romero “Miro” Quimbo, the panel’s chair, said several Bureau of Customs officials were invited to the hearing, including Deputy Commissioners Romeo Allan Rosales (Intelligence Group); Nolasco Bathan (Enforcement); Agaton Teodoro O. Uvero (Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group); Revsee Escobedo (Management Information Systems and Technology Group);  Assistant Commissioner Vincent Philip Maronilla (Post Clearance Audit Group); Port of Manila District Collector Alexander Gerard Alviar; Port of Batangas District Collector Carmelita Talusan; and Manila International Container Port District Collector Rizalino Jose Torralba.

Last week, House Resolution 636 was filed seeking a congressional probe into the PNP’s seizure on New Year’s Eve in Batangas and Malabon of 32 trucks allegedly carrying smuggled cigarettes worth approximately P2.6 billion.

Nepomuceno has ordered an investigation into the resurgence of smuggling amid reports of the involvement of some officials of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS).

He has relieved Intelligence Officer III Paul Oliver Pacunayen, chief of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) at the Port of Manila.

Pacunayen and CIIS Director Thomas Narcise were among the officials mentioned in a letter sent to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. by customs officials, employees and stakeholders on 11 December.

The letter also mentioned a customs broker who was earlier identified in a Senate report as a major agricultural smuggler operating in the ports of Subic, Manila, Batangas and Cebu, and the Manila International Container Port.

“The Port of Manila, as the country’s primary international gateway, has reportedly become a focal point for the entry of regulated, prohibited, and undeclared goods, including agricultural products, counterfeit items, illicit cigarettes, motor vehicles, vape products, and other regulated commodities,” the letter said.

The PNP Highway Patrol Group’s confiscation of the smuggled cigarettes “confirms that organized cigarette smuggling remains a serious national problem that requires urgent action.”

The taxes on the intercepted items amounted to P875.16 million that the government would otherwise have collected under the 2026 tax rate.

The government lost an estimated P25.5 billion in excise taxes due to the illicit tobacco trade in 2023 alone, according to a Bureau of Internal Revenue report.

The House probe seeks to review current enforcement systems, interagency coordination, and existing penalties to determine if they are sufficient to deter the large-scale smuggling of tobacco products.