Customs breaches October targets even as fewer ports meet targets

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has surpassed its October collection targets even though only less than half of its ports met its financial goals. The BOC, the national government’s second-largest revenue source, said its October collection was at P24.294 billion, P759 million more than its targets. As a result, the agency’s January to October revenues have reached P222.125 billion, P12.265 billion higher than its ten-month targets. Only seven out of the BOC’s 17 ports were able to meet and/or surpass their revenue expectations for the month. These ports include the Ports of San Fernando which earned P136 million, Legaspi with P5.9 million, Iloilo with P27million, Cebu with P472 million, Cagayan de Oro with P350 million, Davao with P188 million, and Clark with P63 million. Among the ports that failed to meet its goals included the port of Manila, the Manila International Container Port (MICP), and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), whose respective revenues for the said month fell by 9.9 percent, 0.4 percent, and 15.4 percent. The port of Batangas also missed its goals by 6.3 percent although its final results will be posted once its subport collections are collated, a customs official said. Similarly, ports in Tacloban, Zamboanga, Subic, and Limay failed to meet expectations. These facilities missed targets by P9.5 million, P4.4 million, P152 million, and P127 million respectively. The Office of the Commissioner failed to report any collection for the month, the preliminary report said. However, the bureau’s collection from Tax Expenditure Funds (TEF)—non-cash payments for government imports—have exceeded its P666 million goal by reporting some P3.22 billion in revenues for the month. - GMANews.TV