Over P12 billion in smuggled goods seized so far in 2021 –BOC

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) said Saturday it had so far seized more than P12 billion worth of smuggled goods this year, exceeding the full-year amount it seized in 2020.

“Latest nito, lalampas kaunti sa kalahati ng taon, nalampasan na namin ‘yung figures na nahuli namin last year nasa mahigit 12 bilyong piso worth ng smuggled items na ang nahuli ng BOC sa taon na ‘to,” BOC Assistant Commissioner and spokesperson Vincent Maronilla said on PTV’s Laging Handa.

(At the latest, just a few months over the first half of the year, we already surpassed last year’s figure of over P12 billion worth of smuggled items seized by the BOC this year.)

Maronilla noted that in the first six months of 2021 alone, over P10 billion worth of smuggled goods were seized by the Customs Bureau.

Meanwhile, the BOC said that in September alone it surpassed its revenue collection target of P56.9 billion by 5.3% in September as it collected a total of P59.9 billion last month.

This, as eight out of the seventeen collection districts exceeded their target for the month, namely: the Ports of Limay, Manila, San Fernando, Zamboanga, Davao, Iloilo, Legaspi, and Clark.

Year-to-date, the BOC collected P472.204 billion since January reflecting 76.6% of the 2021 collection goal of P616.749 billion.

Maronilla attributed the agency’s performance to its anti-corruption initiatives such as improved valuation as well as intensified collection efforts of all the ports, improvement of importation volume, and the government’s effort in ensuring the unhampered movement of goods domestically and internationally considering the pandemic situation. — DVM, GMA News