Taking into account the importers’ clamor, Mariveles port collector Roy D. Tabangay has appealed to Customs Commissioner Antonio Bernardo to give back the assessment and collection functions to the port as the importers cited the difficulty of having to shuttle from Mariveles to Manila to file their entries.
The Customs functions were removed from the Port of Mariveles and transferred to the Port of Manila during the time of Bernardo’s predecessor due to reports of smuggling. Since then, importers and brokers have had to file their entries in Manila where their shipments are also assessed.
Customs authorities have cited the ports of Mariveles and Batangas for exceeding their respective assigned tax collection targets for the year, adding that "the two ports have performed well beyond expectations."
The port of Mariveles, according to Tabangay, is the only port district where assessment and collection target of P1.14 billion by 103 percent or P1.146 billion.
Tabangay said that importers, traders and businessmen are discouraged from using the port of Mariveles because the filing of entry and assessment of their shipments are done at the port of Manila which is time-consuming.
The port of Mariveles, according to Tabangay, is the only port district where assessment and collection functions are done outside the port, which he described as "unprecedented," if not "irregular."
Tabangay also said that the restoration of its assessment and collection functions to the port would encourage the transacting public, particularly the business firms operating at the Bataan Export Zone, to use it for convenience so they need not go to Manila to effect the release of their shipments.