MANILA, Philippines - We refer to your front page news item today, 12 July 2010, entitled “Customs chief targets influence peddlers” written by one of your staffers Ms. Helen Flores.
Insofar as pertinent, quoted below is a portion of the news item which tends to include the Port of Clark as one of those collection districts of the Bureau of Customs which failed to meet its collection target for the first half of the year, that is, from 01 January to June 2010:
But the MICP and the ports of Limay, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga and Clark failed to meet their targets.” (Underscoring supplied).
In the interest of fair play and to make the records straight, the Port of Clark under my stewardship actually collected P454,112,911.56 as against its target of P442,790,000.00 or a positive deviation of P11,322,911.56 (2.56%) for the first half of the year. These figures can be obtained from the Bureau of Customs and can be double-checked with the Bureau of Treasury, an independent government agency. Attached for your ready reference is a collection report of the Port of Clark for the period January to June 2010 (Annex “A).
Thank you very much for your time in correcting this grievous error in your reporting of public revenue, the lifeblood of any government.