BUGALLON, PANGASINAN—Operators of an unlicensed cigarette factory here that was shut down this week, after untaxed cigarettes worth at least P2 billion were seized, had secured permits to operate as a piggery, village officials said.

Close to 30 workers, including five Chinese nationals, were found working at the factory by a raiding team from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and National Bureau of Investigation on Nov. 28. Many of the workers were recruited from the Visayas and Mindanao.

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They were producing cigarettes, which were packed and imprinted with unregistered tax stamps and fake brand labels, at a gated property far from the residential areas at Barangay Portic here.

Hidden

The property, fenced with barbed wire, is hidden from the road by mango trees.

“We were surprised when the team from NBI and BIR arrived on the afternoon of Nov. 28,” said Edilberto Orduña, chair of Barangay Portic.

“We had no idea at all that such illegal factory existed near the piggery,” he added.

He said one of the workers had told him that they were driven to the factory at night and were not allowed to leave the area.

The cigarettes were transported by truck to the road where another truck waited.

The drivers exchanged trucks and the empty vehicle was driven back to the factory to wait for a new shipment.

The BIR mission order was issued against one Dong Calugay, the name of the man who applied for a barangay permit to operate a piggery that was needed for the issuance of an environmental compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Orduña said.

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Council permit

The village council issued the permit to Danilo Calugay on Sept. 24, 2016 after 30 residents endorsed the piggery, Orduña said. It was not clear whether Dong and Danilo Calugay were the same person.

When the council inspected the piggery before issuing the permit, the cigarette factory was not there, according to village councilor, Joe Cayabyab. —INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

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