Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

An individual is photograph vaping an electronic cigarette in Quezon City on May 31, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Jekki Pascual

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/174799892670920240531-vape-smoking-MT-1.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">An individual is photograph vaping an electronic cigarette in Quezon City on May 31, 2024. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/file</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Government agencies and a private organization on Friday welcomed the proposal to create an inter-agency task force specifically to resolve the problem of illicit cigarette and vape trade.</p><p>At an online forum organized by the Bantay Konsumer, Kalsada, Kuryente, its convenor Karen Sison said the illicit trade is now a crisis in the country which is affecting the health of the people.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/health-science/2024/12/4/vaping-while-still-smoking-unlikely-to-help-quitters-study-0127">Vaping while still smoking unlikely to help quitters: study</a></div><p>“In just 2 years, the illicit tobacco trade has evolved into a full blown crisis. Smoking prevalence rose sharply from 18.5 percent in 2021 to 23.2 percent in 2023. This is driven in considerable part by the availability of cheap products which are most likely, usually illegal and hence unregulated,” Sison said. </p><div><strong>EFFECTS</strong></div><p>Philippine Tobacco Institute President Jericho Nograles said one in five cigarettes sold in the country now are untaxed and unregulated. And in some areas like Lanao del Sur, 9 out of 10 cigarettes are linked to illicit trade.</p><p>“Illicit tobacco trade in the country has reached an all time high and is fast approaching irreversible levels. By the end of 2024, illicit trade incidents stood at 18.2 percent - that is a 240 percent increase in just 4 years,” Nograles said.</p><p>Aside from the health issue, Nograles said the illicit trade also resulted in loss of revenues for the government and is also affecting legitimate businesses. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/5/19/lowering-excise-tax-on-tobacco-vapor-products-not-solution-to-illicit-trade-gatchalian-1350">Lowering excise tax on tobacco, vapor products not solution to illicit trade — Gatchalian</a></div><p>Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, proposed the creation of an inter-agency task force to curb illicit cigarette and vape trade. </p><p>He said there must be a more coordinated effort to keep the youth from getting enticed into vaping or smoking.</p><p>Various government agencies welcomed the proposal. </p><p>The Bureau of Internal Revenue said it has already started having a task force to stop illicit cigarette trade, but said having a bigger group would be an added help especially if there are also representatives from other departments.</p><p>“Definitely a task force with a KPI, dedicated resources diyan sa activity against illicit trade will be helpful… Kailangan natin kasama din natin judiciary dito sa task force natin para we can have a common understanding on the pieces of evidence, on the kinds of evidence that we can produce,” said BIR Assistant Commissioner Jethro Sabariaga. </p><div><strong>&#x27;DIFFICULT&#x27;</strong></div><p>Officials admitted there is difficulty in catching the criminals behind the illicit trade. </p><p>Sometimes it’s hard to get a search warrant or sometimes cases get dismissed for various reasons. Hence they need to have representatives from various agencies to help in the task force.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/4/7/marcos-leads-crushing-of-p3-26-b-worth-of-smuggled-e-cigarettes-1558">Marcos leads crushing of P3.26B worth of smuggled e-cigarettes, vape</a></div><p>Robert Ong, City prosecutor and OIC of the BOC Smuggling Cases and Agri Economic Sabotage Cases added, “We support intelligence sharing, as well as the private sector participation.”</p><p>Customs Deputy Commissioner Juvymax Uy however said before forming a task force there must be clearer guidelines on how various agencies will work, citing that many task forces have been created before. </p><p>“Everybody is saying about a task force. It’s nice to have those words a task force. So many task forces have been created to be mission specific, time-bound. What happened? Were they able to deliver?,” said Uy. </p><p>He added, “Creating a task force has a lots of challenges. It has limitations and constraints. One is so many agencies have each own missions. Creating a task force the one challenge is unity of command. Who will command the task force?”</p><p>But all agencies welcome the creation of the task force to include several government agencies to curb illicit tobacco trade in the country. In the meantime, each agency continues to do their usual operations to capture the people behind the illegal activity.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FRYqwrUzXMo?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>Aside from the health issue, the illicit trade has also resulted in loss of revenues for the government and is also affecting legitimate businesses.</p>

Aside from the health issue, the illicit trade has also resulted in loss of revenues for the government and is also affecting legitimate businesses.

Advocates welcome proposed task force vs illicit vape, tobacco trade

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Advocates welcome proposed task force vs illicit vape, tobacco trade

Jekki Pascual,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 23, 2025 08:06 PM PHT

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