The government’s multi-billion peso tax case against local cigarette firm Mighty Corp. caused a number of retailers to stop selling Mighty cigarettes, an official of the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association said over the weekend.
Pagasa president Steven Cua said the fear of the retailers stemmed from the government’s series of raids on Mighty warehouses and the filing of a P9.56-billion tax evasion case against the Bulacan-based cigarette manufacturer.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue asked the Justice Department on May 9 to prosecute Mighty and its executives for tax evasion involving P26.93 billion in unpaid excise taxes arising from its alleged use of fake tax stamps.
“Supermarkets are hesitant to carry the product for fear that they might be “raided” or labeled as an accomplice or colluding/conniving to sell illicit products. Negative publicity under an environment of fierce competition definitely does not help retailers jack up their cause,” Cua said.
“Out of the five active member-stores of Pagasa in Metro Manila we talked to, two have stopped ordering/selling Mighty’s stock,” Cua said.