'Full-blown' House inquiry into tobacco smuggling eyed in next 2 weeks

The House of Representatives is expected to make a full-blown investigation into the alleged rising incidence of large-scale tobacco smuggling and its impact on public health and government revenues in the next two weeks, a congressman said Wednesday.

According to House ways and means committee chairperson and Marikina Representative Miro Quimbo, the congressional inquiry must first be referred to the House plenary, and then to the committee on rules, and then be referred by the Majority Leader to the committee for it to push through.

"We're very confident that in the next two weeks, we will have a full-blown investigation on this matter," he said in a forum.

Quimbo, under House Bill 636 which he filed two weeks ago, is calling for a congressional inquiry on tobacco smuggling. He cited the 32 trucks of alleged smuggled cigarettes valued at P2.6 billion on January 1, 2026.

These were reportedly interecepted by the Philippine National Police in coordinated operations in Batangas and Malabon.

Quimbo said the smuggled cigarettes come from Taiwan, China, and Malaysia, and are brought to the Philippines supposedly as transshipments. However, these are left in the country and no longer exported. Some shipments also enter the border through the Zambasulta, or Zamboanga City, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.

"Ang laki ng drain niya sa ating public health system. Nawawala na 'yung pondo at dahil hindi siya napipigilan, mas lumalaki ang cost related to tobacco smoking dahil accessible 'yung sigarilyo na mura," he said.

(It puts a huge strain on our public health system. Funds are being depleted, and because it isn't being curbed, the costs related to tobacco smoking keep rising, especially since cheap cigarettes remain easily accessible.) — VDV, GMA Integrated News