Customs officials invited to House probe into large-scale tobacco smuggling

The House ways and means panel will invite at least eight Bureau of Customs (BOC) officials to its upcoming inquiry into rising large-scale tobacco smuggling and its impact on public health and national revenues.

In a statement, committee chair Marikina City Representative Miro Quimbo said the invited resource persons include

• BOC Deputy Commissioner Romeo Allan Rosales (Intelligence Group);
• BOC Deputy Commissioner Nolasco Bathan (Enforcement);
• BOC Deputy Commissioner Agaton Teodoro Uvero (Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group);
• BOC Deputy Commissioner  Revsee Escobedo (Management Information Systems and Technology Group);  
• BOC 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.

Quimbo earlier filed House Resolution No. 636 seeking a congressional probe into the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) seizure, in Batangas and Malabon on New Year's Eve, of 32 trucks allegedly carrying smuggled cigarettes worth approximately P2.6 billion.

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

Nepomuceno also relieved the CIIS chief at the Port of Manila, Intelligence Officer III Paul Oliver Pacunayen.

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

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

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

Quimbo earlier said that the government lost an estimated P25.5 billion in excise taxes due to the illicit tobacco trade in 2023 alone, based on Bureau of Internal Revenue records. — BM, GMA Integrated News