Duterte orders Panelo to study possible charges vs Mighty Corp.

President Rodrigo Duterte has directed his chief presidential legal counsel to study possible charges against homegrown cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corp.

“I have been instructed to study, prepare the case against the Mighty cigarettes. I have been in coordination with the BIR commissioner [Caesar Dulay],” Presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo said in an ambush interview on Tuesday.

While Mighty Corp. could settle its tax liabilities with the government, Panelo said criminal charges could still be filed against the local manufacturer.

“Under the law, civil liability can be settled. Criminal prosecution will have to proceed,” he said.

“They are supposed to pay some taxes. They have avoided that, then we can prosecute them for that. With  respect to the discovery of false tax stamps, that’s another case,” he added.

Panelo said the Department of Justice would still be the lead agency but he would coordinate with them.

He said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) during the Aquino administration had discovered the tax evasion of Mighty Corp but the “previous administration has ignored” it.

“It’s supposed to be filed against the Mighty cigarettes but it laid there for a while,” he said.

Panelo said cases of tax evasion or economic sabotage could be filed against Mighty Corp owner Alex Wongchuking. JE/rga

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