These are the cities of Cabanatuan, Gapan, San Jose and Munoz and the municipalities of Bongabon, Cabiao, San Antonio, San Isidro, Zaragoza, Sta. Rosa, Guimba, Jaen, Lupao, Pantabangan, Gabaldon and Cuyapo.He gave notice that “nobody is above the law,” whether or not some influential personalities are behind this illegal trade. His final warning: “We’ll gonna put them down!”
He would not disclose the locations of the illegal factories as part of the strategy for incoming surprise crackdown operations.In February this year, the Bureau of Internal Revenue raided a warehouse in Cabanatuan City. Seized from the operation were multi-billion peso worth of packaging materials and printing machines used for labeling illicit cigarettes.
In 2018, BOC raided and padlocked an illegal cigarette factory in Gapan City. Arrested were 16 Chinese nationals. Umali’s figure was confirmed by the Philippine Tobacco Institute , an organization of domestic cigarette manufacturers.