Gatchalian hits low number of cases filed vs tobacco smugglers

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian. Photo from the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau.

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday questioned the low number of cases filed against tobacco smugglers in the country despite a high number of raids and seizures done by authorities.

At the Senate panel on ways and means’ hearing, Gatchalian aired his frustration, specifically questioning why only less than one percent of cases filed had been decided upon by the courts.

Data presented during the hearing showed that the Bureau of Internal Revenue had 1,636 seizures from 2023 to 2025.

Of this number, only 194 (11.85 percent) cases were filed; 15 (0.92 percent) remain pending with the office of the prosecutor; 14 (0.85 percent) were filed before courts; and one (0.06 percent) was decided upon by the courts.

READ: Gatchalian: Smuggled tobacco ‘wreaking havoc’ by funding terrorists

“I remember the time when I was a mayor, the Philippine National Police liked to show off. But when I was reviewing the conviction rate of drug cases in our city in Valenzuela, I noticed that the conviction rate is also very low,” Gatchalian said.

The senator said the same problem was observed in Valenzuela City where “a lot of our enforcement agencies, especially the rank and file are not very well-versed in evidence collecting, in procedures, as well as the law itself and there were a lot of lapses [and] a lot of issues in terms of procedures.”

“I don’t know if it’s done willfully or it’s purely ignorance, but nevertheless the low conviction rate is a cause of concern for us, especially in smuggling,” he added.

Gatchalian also emphasized that no matter what the government does in terms of law — whether amending the law or coming up with stricter guidelines — if convictions are not made against smugglers, then progress would not be made.

According to Bureau of Internal Revenue Assistant Commissioner James Roldan, some of those whose tobacco shipments were seized eventually paid, and that’s why enforcement of cases was no longer necessary.

This was echoed by Head Revenue Executive Assistant Dondanon Galera, who noted that many of those that they mapped in 2023, when they conducted a nationwide mapping, were small vape shops and sari-sari stores that have already paid their obligations.