Customs take surged by 22% to P274B in Feb.

Customs collections surged by more than a fifth for the second straight month in February, reinforcing expectations that reforms implemented by the Bureau’s new leadership have started to gain traction.

The growth in collections came despite a slight dip in the volume of imports for the month—a result of the ongoing truck ban in Manila where the country’s major international ports are located.

“The sustained growth of our collections is strong evidence that we are moving in the right direction. But our job is far from over, and we remain focused on structural reforms which will deliver even stronger growth, more efficient processing and transparency in the future,” Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner John P. Sevilla said in a statement.

Total collections of the Bureau of Customs reached P274 billion in February, an increase of 22 percent year-on-year. This followed January’s 21-percent rise in collections.

Year-to-date, collections totaled P57.2 billion. The amount is still 7 percent below the target set.

Revenues continued to grow despite the 1.42-percent dip in the volume of imported goods in February, compared with that of the same month last year.

Recently, truckers groups initiated a work stoppage to protest the expanded truck ban in Manila.

Collections in nine of the 14 ports under the BOC’s supervision fell short of the target set. The Port of Manila and Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) both missed their collection targets. At the Port of Manila, collections reached P4.806 billion against the target of P6.440 billion. Collections at MICT stood at P6.892 billion—lower than the P8.728-billion target.

Batangas, the country’s second largest port, exceeded its collections target by 10.83 percent to reach P6.238 billion.

The BOC continued to outperform its larger sister agency, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which saw tax collections rise by 5.18 percent in the same month.