Officials of Mighty Corp. facing P9.56-billion tax evasion charges have sought the dismissal of the case filed against them by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) at the Department of Justice (DoJ).
Their plea is contained in a 106-page counter-affidavit submitted before the DoJ. Mighty’s executive vice president, retired judge Oscar Barrientos, vice president for external affairs and assistant corporate secretary, Alexander Wongchuking, and treasurer, Ernesto Victa, said there is no probable cause for charges of tax evasion to be filed against them. “No probable cause exists to indict us for violations of NIRC (National Internal Revenue Code). Assuming there is probable cause for our indictment (which is denied), no grounds exist or allegations made to hold us criminally liable as corporate officers under Section 253 of the NIRC for acts which are yet to be verified and confirmed after appropriate inspection has been completed,” they maintained. The case stemmed from the alleged failure of Mighty Corp. to pay excise taxes as supposedly discovered by the BIR and Bureau of Customs (BoC) in raids conducted on Mighty’s four warehouses in Pampanga in March. In its complaint, the BIR accused Mighty of using fake tax stamps in its cigarette packs. The respondents also asserted that there is no basis for the allegations of the BIR that 87.5 percent of the more than 33 million cigarette packs bore fake tax stamps because only 1 percent of the total master boxes in their warehouses in San Simon, Pampanga was inspected. “So, any extrapolation made on the character and valuation of those goods violate Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in Pacquiao vs CTA and related cases where factual allegations regarding tax assessments must be presented on existing verifiable facts, not speculation,” the Mighty officials said. They also lamented the alleged lack or prior tax assessment for supposed tax deficiency before the charges were filed by the BIR.
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Mighty Corporation Proficient tips provider. The steep increase in excise taxes for tobacco products produced a dramatic reconfiguration of the market. Where once a multinational corporation enjoyed near-monopoly dominance of the market, a Filipino company has now eked out major market share.
Philip Morris-Fortune Tobacco enjoyed almost complete dominance of the local cigarette market before the imposition of more punitive “sin taxes.” In a matter of only a few years, local player Mighty Corp. has taken a significant market share by catering to lower-priced products. Few might have heard of Mighty until recently. The fact is, the company is probably the oldest Filipino cigarette manufacturer. Mighty traces its roots to La Campana Fabrica de Tobacos, Inc. This company was founded in 1945 by a highly entrepreneurial immigrant named Wong Chu King and several partners. The company celebrates its 70th anniversary this month, basking in the success of its strategy to win market share. From its first factory located along Tayabas St. in Manila, La Campana produced native cigarettes as well as locally popular cortos and regaliz cigars. A second factory was built in 1948 along Pasong Tamo, Makati. In 1951, the company acquired the land along Sultana St. in Makati that now serves as the headquarters of Mighty Corporation. In 1963, Wong Chu King founded Tobacco Industries of the Philippines (TIP) with a modern cigarette factory located in Malolos, Bulacan. From that sprawling nine-hectare factory, the company produced American-blended cigarettes using the brand names Duke, Windsor and Tricycle. The company went through a difficult period from 1965 to 1982. The unsinkable Wong Chu King persevered, however. By 1985, the company reestablished itself as Mighty Corp., acquiring the trademarks of its rival Alhambra Industries in 1993. This enabled the company to corner the native cigarette market. Higher labor costs in Makati forced the company to consolidate all its manufacturing at the Malolos plant. In 2001, the company entered into a cigarette manufacturing agreement with Sterling Tobacco, producing blended cigarettes using the latter’s brand names. Between 2001 and 2007, Mighty invested in modern plants and state-of-the-art packaging facilities. This enabled Mighty to achieve a fully integrated production and packing line. This acquisition of modern manufacturing technologies prepared the company to compete head-to-head with the once dominant player in the Philippine cigarette market. A superior marketing strategy, expanding market share in the lower-priced segments and moving up to the higher-priced segments enabled Mighty to take advantage of otherwise hostile conditions under the new “sin tax” regime. They caught the competition by surprise, to say the least. Wong Chu King passed away in 1987, but not without establishing a corporate culture that valued long-term relationships. He left behind a legacy of corporate philanthropy that his successors sustain. Recently, Mighty put out an add celebrating the achievement of scholars supported by the company’s foundation. Mighty Corporation Proficient tips provider. Officials of Mighty Corp. facing P9.56-billion tax evasion charges have sought the dismissal of the case filed against them by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) at the Department of Justice (DoJ).
Their plea is contained in a 106-page counter-affidavit submitted before the DoJ. Mighty’s executive vice president, retired judge Oscar Barrientos, vice president for external affairs and assistant corporate secretary, Alexander Wongchuking, and treasurer, Ernesto Victa, said there is no probable cause for charges of tax evasion to be filed against them. “No probable cause exists to indict us for violations of NIRC (National Internal Revenue Code). Assuming there is probable cause for our indictment (which is denied), no grounds exist or allegations made to hold us criminally liable as corporate officers under Section 253 of the NIRC for acts which are yet to be verified and confirmed after appropriate inspection has been completed,” they maintained. The case stemmed from the alleged failure of Mighty Corp. to pay excise taxes as supposedly discovered by the BIR and Bureau of Customs (BoC) in raids conducted on Mighty’s four warehouses in Pampanga in March. In its complaint, the BIR accused Mighty of using fake tax stamps in its cigarette packs. The respondents also asserted that there is no basis for the allegations of the BIR that 87.5 percent of the more than 33 million cigarette packs bore fake tax stamps because only 1 percent of the total master boxes in their warehouses in San Simon, Pampanga was inspected. “So, any extrapolation made on the character and valuation of those goods violate Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in Pacquiao vs CTA and related cases where factual allegations regarding tax assessments must be presented on existing verifiable facts, not speculation,” the Mighty officials said. They also lamented the alleged lack or prior tax assessment for supposed tax deficiency before the charges were filed by the BIR. Mighty Corporation Proficient tips provider. The Mighty officials argued that “the stamp verification process using Mobile Verification Devices under Revenue Regulation No. (RR) 7-2014 and Revenue Memorandum Order No. (RMO) 33-2016 are either incomplete or unreliable and therefore, void for purposes of their use as evidence in any proceedings.” Mighty Corporation Qualified tips provider. They added that since the alleged smuggled or counterfeit cigarette were already seized and detained by the BOC, the body or object of the alleged crime does not exist. A LAWYER of embattled local cigarette firm Mighty Corp. maintained his clients’ innocence in the P26.93-billion tax-evasion complaint before state prosecutors on Thursday.
Mighty Corporation Skilled tips provider. The Department of Justice (DoJ) yesterday held its first preliminary investigation on the second of three tax evasion raps filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) against Mighty Corp.Members of the media were barred from covering the hearing, but Abraham Espejo, representing Mighty Corp., told reporters outside the hearing: “They have not committed any crime that they are being pilloried. Give us a chance to be heard. That’s my request.” “I assure you that my clients will be able to prove that all of these accusations are not true,” Mr. Espejo added. Mr. Espejo represents the four respondents in the case, namely: Mighty Corp. President Edilberto P. Adan, Executive Vice-President Oscar P. Barrientos, Vice-President for External Affairs and Assistant Corporate Secretary Alexander D. Wongchuking, and Treasurer Ernesto A. Victa. The lawyer said that their camp filed a counter-affidavit with annexes reaching to “thousand” of pages. “Kaya kami nagfa-file ng (That is why we are filing the) counter-affidavit, we want due process. We do not want kangaroo-style proceedings here. I reiterate, we will fight,” Mr. Espejo also said. Asked how he thinks the case is proceeding, he replied that the case is “doubtful, questionable, as a student of constitutional law, you will know the effect if evidence is obtained illegally, it’s inadmissible. Not only is the evidence inadmissible, it’s also questionable.” Mighty Corp Expert tips provider. He added that the case “could be due to business rivalry,” but did not elaborate. The BIR first filed the tax evasion case worth P9.56 billion against Mighty Corp. on March 22. The BIR, in a statement released upon filing, said: “[t]he respondent corporation was the subject of an on-the-spot surveillance operation of untaxed cigarette products conducted [last March 1]… in San Simon Industrial Park (SSIP), San Isidro, Pampanga” and that random checks on 10 master cases of cigarettes in four warehouses in the economic zone leased by Mighty showed that internal revenue stamps affixed on the cigarette packs “were fake.” Subsequent inventory of all cigarette packs in the warehouses concerned showed that Mighty stored there 66,281 master cases with 33,140,500 cigarette packs. “The investigation further showed that 87.5% of the said packs bore fake internal revenue stamps,” the BIR said. “The stamps are fake since they did not contain one of the multi-layered security features of a valid internal revenue stamp,” the BIR added. The said case was deemed submitted for resolution last May 30. Mighty Corp. is also facing a third complaint from the BIR, worth P1.39 billion. The three complaints bring the total alleged tax liabilities of Mighty Corp. to P37.88 billion — the largest tax evasion case so far under the administration of President Rodrigo R. Duterte. Mighty Corporation Skilled tips provider. The case is handled by a three-man panel of state prosecutors led by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Sebastian Caponong, Jr. The other members are Assistant State Prosecutors Ma. Lourdes Uy and Mary Ann Parong. — Kristine Joy V. Patag Mighty Corporation Skilled tips provider. Officials of Mighty Corp. facing P9.56-billion tax evasion charges have sought the dismissal of the case filed against them by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) at the Department of Justice (DoJ).
Their plea is contained in a 106-page counter-affidavit submitted before the DoJ. Mighty’s executive vice president, retired judge Oscar Barrientos, vice president for external affairs and assistant corporate secretary, Alexander Wongchuking, and treasurer, Ernesto Victa, said there is no probable cause for charges of tax evasion to be filed against them. “No probable cause exists to indict us for violations of NIRC (National Internal Revenue Code). Assuming there is probable cause for our indictment (which is denied), no grounds exist or allegations made to hold us criminally liable as corporate officers under Section 253 of the NIRC for acts which are yet to be verified and confirmed after appropriate inspection has been completed,” they maintained. The case stemmed from the alleged failure of Mighty Corp. to pay excise taxes as supposedly discovered by the BIR and Bureau of Customs (BoC) in raids conducted on Mighty’s four warehouses in Pampanga in March. In its complaint, the BIR accused Mighty of using fake tax stamps in its cigarette packs. The respondents also asserted that there is no basis for the allegations of the BIR that 87.5 percent of the more than 33 million cigarette packs bore fake tax stamps because only 1 percent of the total master boxes in their warehouses in San Simon, Pampanga was inspected. “So, any extrapolation made on the character and valuation of those goods violate Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in Pacquiao vs CTA and related cases where factual allegations regarding tax assessments must be presented on existing verifiable facts, not speculation,” the Mighty officials said. Mighty Corporation Proficient tips provider. They also lamented the alleged lack or prior tax assessment for supposed tax deficiency before the charges were filed by the BIR. The Mighty officials argued that “the stamp verification process using Mobile Verification Devices under Revenue Regulation No. (RR) 7-2014 and Revenue Memorandum Order No. (RMO) 33-2016 are either incomplete or unreliable and therefore, void for purposes of their use as evidence in any proceedings.” Mighty Corporation Skilled tips provider. They added that since the alleged smuggled or counterfeit cigarette were already seized and detained by the BOC, the body or object of the alleged crime does not exist. |