BOC collection falls P52-billion short of 2009 target

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) collected P220 billion last year, P52 billion or 19 percent below its target, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said in a speech during the 108th anniversary of the agency yesterday. 

Morales attributed the lower-than-expected 2009 collections to the impact of the global financial turmoil which led to a huge drop in imports and to the impact of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng which also slowed down businesses.

”This shortfall against target and drop in revenue collections year on year are consistent with the drop in the overall value of imports in 2009 by 20 percent, to only P2.3 trillion from almost P3 trillion,” he said.

The biggest drop was in oil imports, which plummeted by 39 percent from the overall import value in 2008.

Morales said even the value of non-dutiable imports also suffered, dropping 24 percent or over P363 billion compared to 2008, reflecting the slump in the manufacturing industry.

Compared to its collections in 2008, the BOC’s P220 billion total revenues last year reflected a drop of 15 percent or P39 billion.

Morales also said that the problem of smuggling worsened last year alongside the problematic state of the economy.

“In the first few months of 2009 when the state of the economy was depressing and the local market was hungry for cheaper goods, the threat of smuggling was high,” he said.

This, he said, dampened revenues so the agency had to separate the Intelligence and Enforcement Group into two groups for a more efficient fight against smuggling. The Intelligence Group focused on investigation while the Enforcement Group focused on policing customs territory. As such, Morales said there are now a total of 101 cases against 507 respondents that the agency filed under its Run After the Smugglers Program.

For this year, the BOC chief said the agency would step up efforts to meet its 2010 revenue goal which has been originally set at P309.5 billion by the interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC). The BOC has asked for a lower target of P278 billion.

In January, the BOC collected P17.602 billion, above its revenue goal for the month of P14.091 billion, latest data from the Treasury showed. In the same month last year, the BOC collected P14.4 billion, data also showed.