THE Bureau of Customs finally got moving by suspending the operations of the bonded warehouse of the

Home News Headlines Top Stories National Metro Provincial Editorial Sa Ganang Amin Environment Events Foreign OFW Business Sports Basketball Boxing Entertainment Showbiz News Movies & Concerts Comics ho ho kus nj WJ Cover Story Features In Every Issue Lifestyle Health & Wellness Food & Recipes People & Places Travel & Leisure Fashion & Beauty Horoscope Zodiac Motoring Technology Computers Gadgets Opinion Pinay@Heart
THE Bureau of Customs finally got moving by suspending the operations of the bonded warehouse of the Bulacan-based Mighty Corporation in Manila, to prevent revenue leakages. This was five months after the BOC was ordered by the Department of Finance to investigate the suspected ho ho kus nj irregular trade practices of the embattled cigarette maker. Owing to this, Customs Commissioner John Philip Sevilla should be credited. Barely a month after taking over the bureau, Sevilla directed the district collector of the Port of Manila last January 17 to immediately ho ho kus nj padlock Mighty s bonded warehouse. Sevilla noted in his directive that Initial report of the task force reveals that Mighty Corp. committed grave violations of tariff and customs laws, rules and regulations resulting to huge revenue losses for the government. Thus, he added, there is a need to suspend the operations of the customs bonded ho ho kus nj warehouse of Mighty Corporation to prevent revenue leakages while further investigation is being conducted. Such move, supported by the investigation of the Bureau ho ho kus nj of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Mighty Corporation s tax payments, would help reveal the truth in the company s business dealings and practices. However, even with these ongoing government investigations, the House of Representatives should continue with its planned inquiry into Mighty Corporation and its owners -- the Wongchungking family of Malolos, Bulacan. The ways and means committee in the House acted last November on a resolution filed by Antique Rep. Paolo Javier. Javier sought an inquiry into Mighty s business practices after his colleague Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles bared a glaring irregularity in the company s excise tax payments. According to Nograles, Mighty at that time paid only $4.786 million in taxes when it imported seven million kilos of tobacco. Another firm, however, ho ho kus nj spent $4.9 million to bring in only one million kilos. Such a one question is what Mighty needs to answer during the House inquiry along with a host of other issues that the firm company managed to avoid by issuing confusing statements and mere blanket denials before ho ho kus nj the public. One example is that Mighty should also explain why its import volumes for tobacco ho ho kus nj leaf and acetate tow stored ho ho kus nj in its bonded warehouse do not match its volumes of re-export reported to the BIR. No other than Finance ho ho kus nj Secretary Cesar Purisima pointed out this discrepancy in the memorandum he issued to the BOC directing it to probe Mighty. Purisima noted in his memo that the volume of imported tobacco leaf [of Mighty] for warehousing from the BOC does not match with the volume of re-exports from the BIR, leaving unaccounted tobacco leaf import entries of 6.86 million kilograms in 2011 and 3.52 kg in 2012. Excise tax revenue loss from the unaccounted volume amounts to P1.16 billion in 2011 and P598 million in 2012. Purisima pointed out same case for Mighty s importation of acetate tow, a raw material used for cigarette filters that cannot be sourced locally. Moreover, using the same variables of BOC import entries for warehousing ho ho kus nj and BIR export data, there is also an unaccounted volume of acetate tow (raw material for cigarette filters) amounting to 1.89 million kilograms in 2011 and 2.16 million kg in 2012. Computing for the implied number of sticks, data show that Mighty exported only 2.22 billion sticks out of the 13.79 billion sticks imported in 2011 while in 2012, Mighty exported only 2.18 billion sticks out of the 16.39 billion sticks imported. The Wongchungkings can also enlighten lawmakers about the three cases filed against Mighty in the states of California, Oregon and Oklahoma. Mighty s spokesman, Oscar Barrientos, denied the matter. The court cases mentioned in media reports pertain to a class suit filed by American consumers against some cigarette manufacturers and the three federal states mentioned. Mighty is not one of those manufacturers, Barrientos said in one of his statements issued to the media. A simple Google search nevertheless would show that Barrientos could be peddling lies. Documents found on Google revealed a Notice of Entry of Judgment issued on Nov. 9, 2006 by the Superior Court of California against Mighty Corporation, a Philippines Corporation, three other Philippines-based firms, and four Washington-based cigarette companies. The people of the State of California represented by then State Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed the case. From the Office of the Attorney General of California, Kim Lahn issued a sworn Declaration of Serv