Law enforcement agencies confiscated P17.9 billion worth of counterfeit items, including P15.5 billion worth of contraband cigarettes in the first three quarters, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines said Monday.
IPOPhl director-general Josephine Santiago said the confiscated illicit products were the highest ever and exceeded the previous record haul of P13.3 billion in the whole of 2014. The items were seized by different agencies under the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights.
Data showed the recent haul also represented an 840-percent increase from what authorities seized in the first three quarters of 2017.
“More than the amount of seizure this year, what we want is for the public to know that these are fake items and that it is legally wrong to patronize such. The staggering amount of seized cigarettes must have been due to the additional taxes slapped on these products,” Santiago said.
Most cigarettes carried the brand Mighty, which became a serious concern for Mighty Corp.’s new owner Japan Tobacco Philippines.
JTC said it was losing an average of P12.6 billion yearly from the sales of fake Mighty cigarettes. About 50,000 to 60,000 fake cigarette sticks were being sold monthly, it said.
IPOPhl deputy director general Teodoro Pascua said the about five variants of fake Mighty cigarettes had been confiscated, so far.
“Similar to the Finance Department’s observation, the increase in seizures of counterfeit cigarettes may have been due to the increase in the prices of cigarettes in the marketplace, as well as more proactive efforts against the spread of counterfeit goods,” he said.
The first substantial take of cigarettes and cigarette production paraphernalia was in February when P5 billion worth of cigarettes were seized in a single operation. Another P1.8 billion worth of fake items were seized in May.
In August, about P8 billion worth of fake and smuggled cigarettes were confiscated in a warehouse in Quezon City.
IPOPhl warned that with the approaching Christmas season, more fake goods might enter the country and the total value of confiscated items could balloon to about P20 billion.
Next to cigarettes, the NCIPR seized counterfeit pharmaceutical and personal care products worth P1.2 billion; optical media products worth, P490 million; handbag and wallets, P450 million; footwear P82.8 million; apparel and accessories, P15.5 million, food, P2.9 million; watches and jewelry, P1.8 million; and other items, P32.2 million.