Ilonggo Borja lawyers win CTA tax case

By Felipe V Celino

ROXAS CITY, Capiz — Ilonggo father-and-son lawyers Nelson Borja and Niel Anthony Borja secured a court victory for executives of GB BEM Cigarette Co., Inc. in a tax case filed five years ago.

The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) acquitted the accused and ordered the removal of padlocks from the company’s facilities.

The case involved charges of unlawful possession of locally manufactured tobacco products without excise tax payment.

The case arose from a 2020 Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) raid at the company’s warehouse in the Pampanga Economic Zone.

The raid resulted in the seizure of more than 1.6 million packs of cigarettes, manufacturing equipment, and the padlocking of the premises.

In its ruling, the Court of Tax Appeals declared that the BIR team’s entry into the warehouse was illegal due to the absence of a valid search warrant.

The court further held that the seizure of the items could not be justified under the “plain view” doctrine and that all evidence obtained during the raid was inadmissible under the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine.

As a result, the court acquitted the accused, citing the prosecution’s failure to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and ordered the unsealing of the padlocked facilities.

“There being no competent evidence to prove any civil liability on their part, they are also exonerated from the same,” the court said in its decision.

The CTA also directed the reopening of the company’s four warehouses that had been shut down since February 5, 2020.

The complaint that triggered the raid was filed by Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp., which alleged that the GB BEM Cigarette warehouse in Pulung Cacutud, Angeles City, was manufacturing and selling cigarettes in the local market without paying excise taxes.

Based on the complaint, BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel SD Guballa issued a mission order dated Feb. 5, 2020, without conducting prior surveillance or a buy-bust operation to verify the allegations, according to court records.

Following the raid, the BIR strike team confiscated a truckload of assorted cigarettes, manufactured tobacco products, raw materials, documents, and equipment, then padlocked the four warehouses and the main production line, resulting in the closure of the business and the termination of its workers.

On Dec. 15, 2025, copies of the CTA decision were furnished to the offices of Senators Erwin Tulfo, Joseph Victor Ejercito, and Senate President Vicente Sotto III, where the ruling was later deliberated in the Senate.