A House lawmaker has stated that illegal cigarettes are costing the government in the Philippines around PHP 26 billion (USD 504 million) in lost taxes every year, reports the Manila Bulletin.

While speaking at the Combating Illicit Tobacco Trade webinar, PBA Party-list Rep. Jericho Jonas B. Nograles said that a report by Euromonitor International showed around 13 per cent of cigarettes sold in the Philippines are illegal, reports the Manila Bulletin.
Nograles said the areas such as Mindenao, Zamboanga Sibugay and Sultan Kudarat were especially affected with 57.2 per cent, 50.6 per cent and 35.6 per cent respectively of the markets dominated by illicit cigarettes.
“Euromonitor estimates in some areas in Mindanao, six of 10 cigarettes sold in retail are illegal,” Nograles said.
Illegal cigarettes are sold for PHP 35 (USD 0.68) per pack in stores which is below the minimum price for a tax-paid pack of cigarettes which lies at PHP 72 (USD 1.40), reports the Manila Bulletin.
The Bureau of the Internal Revenue (BIR) collected PHP 180 billion (USD 3.49 billion) in excise taxes from the tobacco industry in 2021 but claimed that the government lost out on PHP 3.8 billion (USD 73.7 million) in revenue during the period from 2018 to 2021 because of illicit trade, according to the Manila Bulletin.