The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has reduced the collection targets for the country’s 17 ports in line with the reduction in the agency’s 2020 goal amid the COVID-19-induced recession.
In a memorandum to district collectors, Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero noted that the revised monthly targets per port were a result of expectations of lower gross domestic product (GDP) this year, no thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) earlier projected GDP to contract by 2 to 3.4 percent this year.
As such, the DBCC had also reduced the tax and nontax revenue program for 2020 to P2.613 trillion, down 16.7 percent from actual revenue of P3.138 trillion last year.
The BOC is now tasked to collect P541.7 billion in import duties and other taxes through ports. This was down from two previous targets both exceeding P700 billion set before and at the onset of the pandemic.
Under the adjusted targets, the port of San Fernando must collect P3.9 billion; Port of Manila, P73.9 billion; Manila International Container Port, P148.8 billion; Ninoy Aquino International Airport, P35.5 billion; Batangas, P128.8 billion; and Legazpi, P462 million.
For Subic, the adjusted collection goal was P24.4 billion; Clark, P1.5 billion; Aparri, P184 million; and Limay, P42.7 billion.
As for the ports in the Visayas, the new targets were as follows: Iloilo, P2.6 billion; Cebu, P26.7 billion; and Tacloban, P1.1 billion.
In Mindanao, Surigao port must collect P15 million; Cagayan de Oro, P24.6 billion; Zamboanga, P3.5 billion; and Davao, P22.8 billion.
As of the end of April, the BOC’s collections amounted to P179.7 billion, down 7.1 percent from P193.5 billion a year ago.