P304-B take still short of Customs target

By: Tina G. Santos - 11 years ago

Customs Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Customs (BOC) generated P304.5 billion in revenues in 2013, following improvements in operational efficiency and reforms that were undertaken in the last quarter of the year.

In a statement, the BOC said its total collection in 2013 was up 5.1 percent year-on-year, or P14.67 billion over the P289.9 billion collected in 2012.

The BOC, which contributes about 22 percent of the total revenues of the national government, had set a collection target of P340 billion for 2013. It is tasked to collect P408.1 billion this year.

For December 2013 alone, Customs collections reached P23.796 billion, of which 99.86 percent were actual cash collections.

Actual cash collections of the BOC grew 19.3 percent in December alone, its fastest pace for 2013, according to BOC, adding that collections from the Tax Expenditure Fund, which are noncash collections recorded on paper for government transactions, reached only P2 million in December 2013.

Reform working

For the months of November and December 2013, actual cash collections grew over 19 percent, bringing total cash collections for the whole of 2013 to P302.13 billion, up 7 percent year-on-year, the BOC added.

“The surge in the growth trajectory in the last quarter of 2013, which broke the trend growth of 5 percent in the first three quarters, indicates that the President’s Customs Reform Program implemented in October 2013 is beginning to bear fruit. With vigorous and continuous systemic reforms, we are confident that the bureau can become a greater contributor to government coffers, and become a more reliable and credible partner in nation-building and economic growth. We are hopeful that the momentum will be carried over in 2014,” said Customs Commissioner John Sevilla.

The collection districts of Legazpi, Subic, Clark, Aparri, Iloilo, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao picked up part of the slack from the ports of Manila and Batangas, the Manila International Container Port and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport—the largest in terms of revenues and trade volume, exceeding their collection target by a total of P9.2 billion in 2013.