Bureau of Customs. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
The collections of import duties and taxes at the country’s ports jumped by more than a fifth last October to hit P34.16 billion—the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) biggest-ever monthly haul thus far.
The BOC reported Monday that its collections a month after the truck ban in the city of Manila was lifted increased by 22.6 percent compared with the P27.86 billion posted in October last year. Manila is home to the country’s three biggest ports.
The surge in collections last October came on the back of “continued growth in the volume and value of imports,” the BOC explained.
The agency added that “[d]espite challenges brought about by congestion at the country’s largest ports, the BOC managed to improve revenue collections.”
But while the BOC has been posting growth in collections during the past 10 months, the target for October of P36.81 billion was not achieved.
From January to October, the BOC collected a total of P299.95 billion, up 18.6 percent from the P252.88 billion recorded during the first 10 months of 2013.
In the month of October alone, the import volume jumped 31.8 percent amid a “surge in consumer demand” alongside faster clearing out of shipments at the ports, many of which had been congested due to the truck ban.
Meanwhile, cash collections, which net out importations booked as tax expenditure funds, or non-cash collections recorded on paper for government transactions, rose by 28.5 percent in October, the BOC reported.
The BOC also noted that improvements in its processes coupled with reforms implemented in the agency under the leadership of Commissioner John Phillip P. Sevilla led to a 34.4-percent increase in the valuation of goods as well as a 30.17-percent increase in duty and tax collections at the start of the fourth quarter.
Last October, the ports of Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo and Subic exceeded their respective targets for the month.
At the port of Batangas, collections in October hit P8.38 billion; P758 million at the Cagayan de Oro port; P1.23 billion at the Cebu port; P770.5 million at the Davao port; P81.2 million at the Iloilo port, and P1.63 billion at the Subic port.
The ports that missed their targets last October but nonetheless posted year-on-year growth in collections were San Fernando (P197.4 million), Legaspi (P15.3 million), Clark (P97.2 million), Limay (P2.32 million), Tacloban (P22.5 million) and Surigao (P0.5 million).
The collections at the port of Zamboanga in October worth P2.6 million was lower year-on-year as well as below target.
The three main ports located in Metro Manila, which had been impacted by the truck ban implemented from February to September, likewise fell below their October targets but collected more compared with last year’s levels.
Collections at the Port of Manila hit P5.66 billion, below the P7.64-billion target but higher than last year’s P5.23 billion.
The haul at the Manila International Container Port reached P9.7 billion, lower than the P10.35-billion target but exceeding the P7.74 billion in collections in the same month last year.
At the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, collections last October amounted P2.76 billion, which was lower than the P3.19-billion target for the month but more than the P2.54 billion collected in 2013.