Gov't burns P3.3 B worth of Mighty cigarettes

The government destroyed at least P3.3 billion worth of Mighty Corp. cigarettes with fake tax stamps in Bulacan on Tuesday.

The cigarettes were burned at Holcim's cement processing plant in Norzagaray, and was witnessed by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

"We are destroying these stocks of cigarettes to ensure that none of them leaks back to the open market. For we wanted to deliver the message that tax evasion does not pay," Dominguez said.

The products included 229,439 master cases or 114,714,000 cigarette packs, which were seized in a series of raids in the cigarette maker’s warehouses in Bulacan and Pampanga on March 1 and 24.

The Finance chief noted the government decided to partner with Holcim in destroying the confiscated items because of the cement maker’s pioneering "geocycle" technology.

“Holcim pioneered a method that ensures total destruction of materials that vastly reduces toxic gas emissions and reduce land and water pollution,” Dominguez noted.

Asked how much Holcim was paid to burn the cigarettes, Dominguez said the cost was absorbed by Mighty in accordance with the law.

The series of confiscations of Mighty cigarettes with fake tax stamps compelled the cigarette maker to sell its business to Japan Tobacco Inc. and settle its tax obligations with the government. — VDS, GMA News