BOC meets 2006 revenue collection target

For the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the year 2006 was a success as far as meeting its target cash collection was concerned.

Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said the agency has successfully accomplished its primary task of collecting the record-high assigned cash revenue of P190 billion after 12 months, which he largely attributed to reforms in the bureau and a relentless campaign against smugglers.

It has collected at least P195 billion, the biggest ever by the bureau. "We achieved this not by sheer luck, but through our combined hard work," the Customs chief stressed.

Morales said the bureau reached its target when two of the country’s big oil companies, Petron Corp. and Pilipinas Shell Inc., paid their respective import taxes for shipments in December, which amounted to P3 billion.

He said the bureau was expecting to collect an additional P1 billion in import taxes from other government agencies, or tax expenditure fund, through the Special Allotment Release Order from Department of Budget and Management.

The BOC comfortably entered the last month after it registered some P4.911 billion in surplus in total collected revenue as of Nov. 30. The agency only needed to raise P14.39 billion to meet this year’s collection target.

A report by Customs Finance Services showed the agency has registered some P181.6 billion in cumulative monthly collections from January to November, which was 2.8 percent above its target revenue of P176.7 billion for the period.

The document also showed that the bureau fell short in meeting its monthly targets only in April, October and November. In the other eight months, the agency had surpassed its targets with some port districts, led by Port of Batangas and Port of Manila consistently putting in billions in surpluses.

Morales contends that the bureau’s collection performance during the year was comparatively well considering the continuous appreciation of value of peso.

He said the target of BOC for 2006 was based on last year’s exchange rate of P56 to a dollar. This rate had since moved to P49.2 to a dollar.

"In previous years, the target of BOC was moved simultaneously with movement in the exchange rate. But this year, they didn’t adjust our target collection since they feel we would be able to meet it anyway," Morales stressed.

During the last period of the year, the BOC chief implemented a slew of measures to boost its collection drive. Among those was a flexible office hour policy, under which Customs personnel work in two shifts — from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. — to maximize efficiency.

The Customs chief likewise revealed that the bureau is up for another big challenge in its collection drive next year after Finance Secretary Margarito Teves gave him a P235-billion target revenue.

"It would be a tough assignment but we will accept that as my fighting target," Morales said.