Customs chief Biazon vows to increase 2012 collections

Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon admitted the Bureau of Customs missed its 2011 collection target, and vowed to do a better job this year.   Biazon attributed the lean collection last year to anemic trade December.” December is really the lean season,” he said.   Total collections in 2011 were P263.85 billion, said Biazon. This is short of the P320-billion target, Biazon said Thursday.   Biazon noted a P276.42-billion target, but the interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) chaired by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said this amount is a guide and not a revised target.   Comparing P276.42 billion against the 2011 collections, the shortfall would only be P12.57 billion, said Biazon.   The BOC cash collections in 2010 totaled P227.50 billion.   “On a year-on-year comparison, September collection was up 15 percent, October up by 20.8 percent, November up by 23.5 percent and December up by 1.1 percent. December is really the lean season,” said Biazon.   Biazon said the agency will step up the fight against smuggling through its Run After the Smugglers (RATS) program. BOC, he said, will continue to file cases against smugglers and Customs insiders and brokers conniving with them.   On Thursday, BOC filed smuggling charges [http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/244357/economy/finance/customs-files-smuggling-complaints-vs-businessmen-brokers?ref=section_latest] against two businessmen and their brokers in connection with an importation of P37-million worth of firecrackers and frozen meat in 2011.   Biazon said bigger cases will be filed in 2012 under RATS. — KG/VS, GMA News