Manila: President Rodrigo Duterte asked a cigarette manufacturing company to double to P3 billion (Dh250 million) its tax liability of P1.5 billion (Dh219 million) in a compromised settlement, adding the money will be used for the repair of two public hospitals in the southern Philippines and one in Metro Manila.

The taxes that Alexander Wong Chu King, president of Mighty Corporation, did not pay, “whether intentionally or not, can be settled or compromised. That’s the word [used] in law. The P1.5 billion worth of fake tax stamps that he has printed, double that amount [in paying back the government], and I’ll forget to press charges [of tax evasion against him],” explained Duterte.

“His [King’s initial] offer to pay P1.5 billion, that’s not acceptable for me. He should make it P3 billion,” said Duterte, adding the P1 billion will be spent to improve a public hospital in Basilan, southern Philippines; P1 billion for a public hospital in Jolo, southern Philippines; and P1 billion for Mary Johnston Hospital in Metro Manila’s Tondo district.

If a compromise agreement is reached, Mighty Corp can be shielded from charges of tax liabilities, said Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, adding that King could also be charged with economic sabotage and bribery.

He sent to President Duterte a package, which, when opened by Executive Assistant Bong Go, contained a pile of cash, revealed Panelo.

Talking about the alleged bribery, Presidential Spokesperson, Ernesto Abella, said Duterte revealed this during a “Cabinet conversation,” adding, “He [Duterte] was simply saying that, in time past, there was attempt (by a cigarette manufacturer) to influence him financially.”

“He [Duterte] has not commented on it publicly. If he feels that he should, he will,” said Abella.

On March 7, Duterte said, “I ordered his arrest. He’s the one behind it: fake cigarette [tax] stamps. It’s falsification,”

This prompted King to meet with National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Dante Gierran and other NBI officials, said NBI spokesman Ferdinand Lavin. King also met with Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre.

Both the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) have started to prepare an airtight case against King, said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez.

Forged stamps found in King’s warehouse in Pampanga, central Luzon, could amount to P1 billion in revenue losses for the government, said BIR chief Caesar Dulay.

Packs of cigarettes with fake tax stamps were also seized from Mighty Corp’s container vans in ports in Tacloban City, central Philippines; and in General Santos and Zamboanga cities in southern Philippines, the BOC said.