Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC) is finally slowing down its own investigation. The move of PMFTC happened after the Bureau of Internal Revenue commissioner announced on the national television that PMFTC could be held liable over the malicious and libelous claims against Mighty Corp., a minor cigarette player based in Malolos, Bulacan.
The giant company became complacent in conducting its own report on the alleged illicit activities of its competitors. However, on February 14, 2014, BIR Commissioner Kim Henares told ABS-CBN news that PMFTC may face charges over the private investigation causing the firm to slow down its probe. The commissioner hinted that the survey is libelous and such investigation should have been initiated by proper authorities. The result of PMFTC's investigation primarily showed negative information about Mighty Corp., including technical smuggling, tax manipulation, misdeclaration of imported raw materials, etc.
In response to Kim Henares, the influential PMFTC brought the topic on various news outlets which probably aim to fish support from netizens. Unfortunately, a lot of netizens are also questioning the actions of Fortune Tobacco Corp. Even professional journalists argued that it's not the business of PMFTC to conduct the probe nor gather highly confidential information of its competitors.
Mind-boggling Questions
If PMFTC's report were indeed factual, then where and who provided that financial information? Based on the Philippine laws, the survey conducted by PMFTC violated the Securities Regulation Code, Revised Penal Code, and the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, which give detail on the confidentiality of trade secrets. For those who are not familiar of the so-called "trade secrets", Wikipedia gives you a comprehensive summary of it.
A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable, by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over competitors or customers.
Also, anything concerning the business income or liability of a businessman is considered a trade secret.
Again, where did the private investigators acquire such business information of Mighty Corp., which should have been held confidential in the first place? Did someone leak the information to them? Or did PMFTC simply committed an espionage on its competitor?