Mighty Corp. under 24/7 Tight Monitoring
Mighty Corporation (MC) is closely guarded by Bureau of Customs (BOC) following the allegation made by Philip Morris International and Lucio Tan's Fortune Tobacco Corporation(PMFTC) on Mighty's illicit trade practices. BOC officials was ordered by Department of Finance (DOF) to tightly monitor every single transaction of MC especially its imported materials.
In a report, Mighty Corp. is subjected to a 24/7 close monitoring following the controversial shutdown of its Custom Bonded Warehouse in Bulacan. The suspension order implemented by BOC purportedly aims to prevent revenue leakages and to force the firm to declare all imported item it would use in the production of cigarettes for domestic consumption and to let Mighty pay the corresponding duties.
Jesus Lim Arranza, Chairman of Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), noted the significance of the tight watch and suspension order. He said the shutdown of Mighty Corp.'s bonded warehouse will give way to the investigation of the government. Arranza also mentioned that any positive result of the close monitoring will also help prove Mighty's innocence in the series of allegations by PMFTC.
In a press conference, Mighty Corp. executive Vice President Oscar Barrientos issued a statement regarding the implemented suspension order and the "close monitoring" conducted by customs officials.
Barrientos explained the directive from DOF does not cover regular importation of tobacco leaves and other raw materials for domestic market. Hence, the firm is still running its business as usual. He said nothing has changed and company continues its production of low-priced cigarettes.
“Mighty Corp. will continue to cooperate with the authorities. We will address allegations at the appropriate time as soon as we receive the final report on the findings,” he added.
Meanwhile, a separate report said that the controversial shutdown rooted from the malicious and libelous claims of PMFTC. The multinational cigarette firm accused Mighty of underpayment of customs duties and taxes, undervaluation of raw materials, fraud cases, and many others. The company even hired a research firm to privately investigate Mighty, PMFTC's major competitor for low-priced cigarettes.
Barrientos said that Mighty Corp. is deliberately used by its competitors, who struggle in maintaining its monopolistic activity in the Philippines.
Our competitor has thrown everything including the kitchen sink at us and we have just become stronger and better. Obviously Mighty Corp. has proven that even a small local company can go toe to toe with a giant monopoly like PMFTC. But is their smear campaign really just their way of dealing with their failures in the market or is there something more to it?,” Barrientos concluded.