TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines -- The Bureau of Customs in Eastern Visayas failed to meet its collection target in 2007 due to the slower economic activities at the different ports in the region, a regional official said.

The BoC collected only P351.98 million in 2007, which was 28 percent short of the P490-million collection target set by the BoC central office.

Rommel Eamiguel, chief cashier of the BoC-8, blamed the slowing down of economic activities in the region?s three ports for the shortfall. "The declining value of the dollar against our peso is also a factor to consider why we're not able to meet (the) collection target set by our central office. Our exporters chose to slow down (operations)," Eamiguel said on Tuesday.

He cited the weak performance of the Isabel port, the biggest in the region where the Leyte Industrial Development Estate, an economic zone, is located.

The Isabel sub-port gets its income from the fees and charges it collects from the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refinery Corp. (Pasar) and the Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corp. (Philphos).

Philphos is engaged in producing fertilizer, which it exports to other countries, while Pasar produces refined coppers, which are used in the manufacture of electric wires and cables and are exported mostly to Asian markets like Thailand, China and Korea.

Eamiguel said that the Isabel sub-port collected P309.450 million in 2007, which was way below its P454.62-million target.

In the Catbalogan-San Jose port, the BoC collected only P42,039.00 although its target was P60,000. The customs fees collected by the port came from foreign parcel fees and other duties.

The Tacloban port, however, outperformed the two other ports since it overshot its collection target of P35.48 million, Eamiguel said.

"It was only in the Tacloban port that we're able to exceed our target collection. Last year, we're able to collect over P42.49 million," he said.

Eamiguel said that the Tacloban port got its income from the fees levied on LPG importation, customs duties and foreign parcel fees.

In 2006, the BoC-Eastern Visayas also failed to meet its target collection of P454.79 million as its total collections reached only P351.80 million.