House okays proposal vs tobacco smuggling

With the national government losing billions in revenues because of the illicit tobacco trade, The House of Representatives has approved a bill that seeks to impose tougher penalties, including life imprisonment, against tobacco smuggling.

During Monday's plenary session, lawmakers agreed to pass House Bill 3917, or the proposed measure to combat tobacco smuggling, on the third and final reading, garnering 225 votes from legislators who supported the bill.

The measure, principally authored by presidential son Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos and PBA Partylist Rep. Migs Nograles, will amend Section 3 of Republic Act 10845 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016, to classify the widespread illegal trade in tobacco and related products as an act of economic sabotage.

The amendment defines economic sabotage as committing the crime of economic sabotage through large-scale agricultural smuggling of tobacco, whether manufactured or unmanufactured, including finished products such as cigars, cigarettes or heated tobacco products, with a minimum excise tax and vat payable of one million pesos P1 million, as valued by the Bureau of Customs, as importing into the Philippines without the required import permit from the regulatory agency.