Customs bureau misses monthly revenue target again
AFP PHOTO/JAY DIRECTO
MANILA, Philippines—For the sixth month in a row, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has failed to meet revenue targets.
In June, the Department of Finance-attached agency took in P23.43 billion, short by P5.43 billion of its revenue target of P28.86 billion, according to BOC personnel in charge of port collections who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak on the matter.
The 30-day revenue was P17 million more than the bureau collected in the same period last year, which was P23.26 billion.
The collections brought to P145.19 billion the agency’s total revenue in the first half of 2013, some P18.66 billion below its target of P163.85 billion.
Four of the BOC’s “billionaire ports”— Manila International Container Port (MICP), Port of Manila (POM), Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) and Port of Batangas—also missed their June collection targets.
The MICP collected P6.41 billion, P1.17 billion short of its target of P7.58 billion.
The POM took in P4.14 billion, short by P1.23 billion of its target of P5.37 billion.
The Naia collected P1.88 billion, some P300 million short of its revenue goal of P2.18 billion.
The Batangas port’s revenues totaled close to P4.6 billion, which was P1.27 billion less than its target of P5.87 billion.
But there were at least “two exceptions” in June, said the same customs sources, referring to the Clark International Airport in Pampanga and the Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales.
The Clark collection district registered revenue of P71.8 million, some P600,000 more than its monthly target of P71.2 million. Total collections from January to June this year reached P1.06 billion, against its 12-month target of P885.7 million.
The Subic port collected P1.05 billion, around P527 million more than its target of P523 million.
Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon has yet to release the bureau’s revenue collection figures for the month of June.
But earlier he told a BOC media forum they were “posting a slight increase over the previous year’s figures.”
The former Muntinlupa City legislator pointed out the bureau was “set back by the March collection figures (a low P21.09 billion, which was nearly P7 billion short of the agency’s P28-billion target for the 31-day period).”
