Position Paper Alam, Siti Azrina I.

12-ABM Mayer
March 29, 2023

Smuggling of Cigarettes in Zamboanga City

The selling of cigarettes can be seen everywhere in the city. Wherever you go, you’ll
see men and women selling cigarettes from different companies as well as candies and maybe
some drinks. According to Global Date (December 2022), the leading companies that sell
tobacco products in the Philippines are Philip Morris International Inc., British American
Tobacco Plc, and Japan Tobacco Inc. Although the PMFTC is already the largest cigarette
manufacturing company of cigarettes in the Philippines, there are still people who prefer
cigarettes from overseas. Thus, they import cigarettes from different countries which then are
sold nationwide. However, the price of importing these goods is very expensive nowadays,
especially with how the tax rate and the inflation rate have gone higher. Because of this, some
people result to the illegal importation of goods or smuggling. According to Manila Bulletin
(March 2023), P4.9M worth of paperless cigarettes were seized in Zamboanga City. The BOC
Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio stated that 141 cases of undocumented cigarettes were cut off
in a seaborne operation in Arena Blanco in Zamboanga City on March 21. There are more
incidents like this that happened in the same city. My stand on this issue is that overseas
importation of cigarettes should be banned in Zamboanga City.

One of the reasons why people smuggle cigarettes is because the price of the said
product is unbelievably expensive in the country. This is due to the tobacco tax rate that is
increasing each year since the implementation of the 4 laws during 2004-2019, mainly RA 9334,
RA 10351, RA 10963, and RA 11346. As stated in an article in Business World (Oplas, 2021),
“The higher the taxes, the higher the tendency for criminal groups to go into tobacco smuggling
and smokers are attracted to cheaper, untaxed illegal cigarettes.” Although the increase in the tax
rate on tobacco products has a negative impact on tobacco users, this is a great way to reduce the
use of tobacco. According to the World Health Organization (February 2019), “Raising tobacco
taxes will protect millions of Filipinos from the scourges of cancer, heart disease, and other
deadly conditions from tobacco use.” That’s why the increase in the tobacco tax rate is a good
idea because it will keep Filipinos from using tobacco or cigarettes.

In summary, I believe that smoking should be banned in the city since it has many
negative effects on the person and the people around him. But since we can’t stop people from
smoking, thus why does the smuggling of cigarettes happen in the first place, it’s better to do it
one at a time and that is to ban overseas importers of cigarettes first. If we don’t put an end to
this problem, how will our economy flourish?
Reference List:
Recuenco, A. (2023, March 25). P4.9M worth of undocumented cigarettes seized in Zamboanga
City. Manila Bulletin. Retrieved April 1, 2023, from
https://mb.com.ph/2023/3/25/p4-9-m-worth-of-undocumented-cigarettes-seized-in-zamboanga-ci
ty
(2022, June 23). Why People Start Smoking and Why It’s Hard to Stop. American Cancer
Society. Retrieved April 1, 2023, from
https://www.cancer.org/healthy/stay-away-from-tobacco/why-people-start-using-tobacco.html#:~
:text=People%20who%20smoke%20can%20quickly,%2C%20headaches%2C%20and%20troubl
e%20sleeping.
(2022, December 16). Philippines Cigarettes Market Analysis and Forecast by Segments,
Distribution Channel, Competitive Landscape and Consumer Segmentation, 2021-2026. Global
Data. Retrieved April 1, 2023, from
https://www.globaldata.com/store/report/philippines-cigarette-market-analysis/#:~:text=The%20l
eading%20companies%20in%20the,in%20the%20Philippines%20in%202021.
Oplas, B. S., Jr (2021, October 4). Tobacco taxes and smuggling in the Philippines.
BusinessWorld. Retrieved April 1, 2023, from
https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2021/10/04/401044/tobacco-taxes-and-smuggling-in-the-
philippines/
Weiler, G. A. (2019, February 19). Increase tobacco tax now. World Health Organization.
Retrieved April 1, 2023, from
https://www.who.int/philippines/news/commentaries/detail/increase-tobacco-tax-now#:~:text=Ra
ising%20tobacco%20taxes%20will%20protect,deadly%20conditions%20from%20tobacco%20u
se.