Duterte: I ordered arrest of Mighty Corp. owner

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday confirmed that he ordered the arrest of the owner of homegrown tobacco company Mighty Corporation.

"Yes, yes I ordered his arrest," he told reporters in Malacañang.

"He’s the one behind it... Fake cigarette [tax] stamps... It’s not a matter of BIR eh. Tax laws. It’s falsification," he added.

Mighty Corporation president Alex Wong Chu King met with National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Dante Gierran and Department of Justice (DOJ) Vitaliano Aguirre II also on Tuesday.

In January, the Department of Finance (DOF) said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) was investigating the firm's alleged use of fake tax stamps.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) also seized goods including cigarette brands manufactured by Mighty Corporation with fake tax stamps in Pampanga province and in General Santos and Zamboanga cities.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez also said that both BIR and the BOC are preparing an air-tight case against the cigarette company. —JST, GMA News