煙草在線據(jù)《馬尼拉公報(bào)》報(bào)道編譯　　菲律賓當(dāng)?shù)氐牡蛢r(jià)卷煙制造商之一Mighty公司（MC），1月8日宣布將從呂宋島北部和該國其他地區(qū)的煙農(nóng)手中購買1000萬公斤、價(jià)值數(shù)百萬比索的煙草產(chǎn)品。

　　Mighty公司的執(zhí)行副總裁奧斯卡·P.巴里恩托斯在發(fā)給國家煙草管理局局長埃德加多·D.薩拉戈薩的一封正式的意向書中說，該公司將從農(nóng)民手中購買的煙葉比2013年公司收購的500萬公斤要多一倍以上。

　　“這是為了向煙農(nóng)保證我們希望提供幫助的意愿，以回應(yīng)煙草業(yè)市場領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者發(fā)表的要減產(chǎn)的報(bào)告，”一位退休的地區(qū)審判法庭法官巴里恩托斯說。

　　這封意向書實(shí)際上破除了批評者的指控，即Mighty公司一直以低價(jià)從外國進(jìn)口原料，因此它不再購買當(dāng)?shù)剞r(nóng)民的煙葉。

　　巴里恩托斯說，他們的批評者采用假情報(bào)，使用令人費(fèi)解的數(shù)據(jù)企圖破壞Mighty公司市場份額的巨大增長。

　　Mighty公司的市場份額從2012年的3%攀升至2013年低價(jià)卷煙品牌的近20%，導(dǎo)致支付了82億比索的消費(fèi)稅。

　　據(jù)巴里恩托斯說，在政府有效實(shí)施《共和法案10352》，即罪惡稅法律之后，他們的市場份額迅速提高，該法案拉平了價(jià)值數(shù)十億比索、由菲莫和福川煙草公司控制的煙草行業(yè)的競爭環(huán)境。該法花了14年才得以通過，并且由總統(tǒng)阿基諾三世認(rèn)定為緊急法案，引起了大量吸煙者從昂貴的優(yōu)質(zhì)和次優(yōu)品牌，轉(zhuǎn)向低價(jià)位卷煙。

　　它還導(dǎo)致一些煙民因?yàn)榻?jīng)濟(jì)原因戒煙了，從而驗(yàn)證了衛(wèi)生局的估計(jì)，即罪惡稅法將減少菲律賓的吸煙者數(shù)量。

　　2013年年底前，國內(nèi)稅務(wù)署稅收的總稅收取得增長，從2012年的604億比索增長到2013年的916億比索。在2013年的11個(gè)月中征收的所有罪惡稅中，卷煙稅占61.6%，即將近三分之二。

　　Mighty公司，在2012年罪惡稅生效之前，只是一個(gè)很小的市場參與者，僅有可憐的3%的市場份額，支付5億比索的消費(fèi)稅，而在罪惡稅生效后，該公司在2013年貢獻(xiàn)了82億比索的稅款，破除了對它的批評，即認(rèn)為它涉嫌技術(shù)性走私和逃稅。

Philippines: Mighty Corp. to Buy More Tobacco from Local Farmers

　　Mighty Corporation (MC), one of the country's local producers of low-priced cigarettes, yesterday announced it will buy 10 million kilograms of tobacco products worth millions of pesos from farmers in Northern Luzon and elsewhere in the country.

　　In an official letter of intent he sent to National Tobacco Administrator Edgardo D. Zaragoza, MC Executive Vice President Oscar P. Barrientos said it is buying tobacco from farmers 100 percent more than the five million kilograms his firm bought in 2013.
"This is to assure our tobacco farmers of our willingness to help in response to the published report of the market leader in the tobacco industry to lessen production this year," Barrientos, a retired regional trial court judge, said.

　　The letter of intent, in effect, debunked critics' allegations that MC has been importing raw materials from foreign countries at low prices and therefore it is no longer buying tobacco from local farmers.

　　Barrientos said their critics have been resorting to a disinformation campaign using convoluted data in an effort to undermine Mighty's tremendous increase of its market shares.

　　MC's market shares surged to almost 20 percent of the low-priced cigarette brands last year from three percent the previous year, resulting to the payment P8.2 billion in excise taxes.

　　According to Barrientos, their market shares shot up after the government effectively implemented Republic Act 10352, otherwise known as the Sin Tax Law that leveled the playing field in the multibillion-peso tobacco industry which was controlled by Philip Morris and Fortune Tobacco. The new law that took 14 years to pass and certified as urgent by President Aquino III caused a tremendous migration of smokers from the expensive premium and sub-premium brands to low-priced cigarettes.

　　It also resulted to some smokers, because of economic reason, to simply quit the vice and thus validated health authorities estimate that the sin tax law would result to the decrease of the number of smokers in the country.

　　Before the end of 2013, total tax collection by the BIR hit an all time increase of P91.6 billion from P60.4 billion in 2012. Taxes from cigarettes represented 61.6 percent or almost two thirds of all sin tax collection for 11 months of 2013.

　　Mighty Corp., then a minor player with a measly three percent of the market share with only P500 million in excise tax payments before the sin tax law took effect in 2012, contributed P8.2 billion in tax payments in 2013, discrediting its critics that it had allegedly committed technical smuggling and tax evasion. Enditem