The Philippine Bureau of Customs (BOC) collected P321.605 billion in revenue for the first nine months of the year, a 12% increase from the P287.933 billion recorded in the same period last year. The nine-month collection, however, was 4.7% below the P336.6 billion target, preliminary data from the customs bureau’s website showed.
For September alone, revenue collected reached P36.351 billion, a 9% increment from the P33.326 billion collected for the same month in 2016 but short of the P39.673 billion target. It is likewise behind the P50.1 billion collection that Customs commissioner Isidro Lapeña said was needed each month from September to December for BOC to surpass the P468-billion revenue goal for 2017.
With the nine-month collection, BOC needs to collect P146.395 billion from October to December, or P48.798 billion per month during the period.
Of the 17 BOC port districts, only four ports surpassed their September targets. These are Batangas (P9.171 billion collection vs. P8.872 billion target); Tacloban (P49 million collection vs. P19 million target); Cagayan de Oro (P1.159 billion vs. P952 million); and Davao (P1.33 billion vs. P1.152 billion).
Tacloban has been outperforming its targets since January, while Cagayan de Oro recorded a shortfall only in April. Batangas and Tacloban also have more hits than misses in their monthly targets.
Manila International Container Port (MICP), which is the BOC’s biggest port revenue contributor, collected P11.277 billion in September 2017, below the P12.234 billion target, but higher than the P10.8 billion collected in the same period last year.
Lapeña earlier said he would be keeping an eye on district collectors whose ports fail to hit their revenue targets and who do not comply with his directives. Last month, he relieved two district collectors–for MICP and for the Port of Manila– for continuously failing to hit targets and for not implementing correct valuation.
The new customs chief earlier said, however, he strongly believes that if customs does its job properly and strictly follows the law and its rules and regulations, “we will be able to hit our target.” – Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
