The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) destroyed 240,550 illicit vape products with estimated tax liabilities of P1.54 billion at a waste management facility in Porac, Pampanga, officials announced.

The disposal took place at the DIGAMA Waste Management Facility under the supervision of BIR Revenue Region No. 6, which covers the City of Manila and Palawan.

BIR Commissioner Charlito Martin R. Mendoza stressed that the agency is pursuing criminal and financial accountability alongside product confiscations.

“Enforcement does not end with seizure,” Mendoza said. “We must permanently remove illicit vape products from the market and hold accountable those behind their illegal manufacture, importation, distribution and sale.”

Revenue Region No. 6 regional director Remir Macatangay said enforcement strategies have shifted from targeting small retail shops to raiding large distribution warehouses.

“We started with retail stores and expanded to warehouses,” Macatangay said. “This led to our operation against Tap Fog Philippines, the largest single illicit vape enforcement operation conducted by the BIR to date. Some of the products seized in that operation were among those destroyed today.”

Tax officials cited that the permanent destruction prevents confiscated items from re-entering the consumer market while protecting state revenues and tax-compliant businesses from unfair competition.