May 27, 2024 - 16:13
By manilatimes.net

Customs bureau confident of hitting P959B target

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs (BoC) is confident that it will reach and even surpass its P959 billion collection target for the year amid a strong revenue performance and initiatives to facilitate trade and further enhance collections.

Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio said that the bureau's strategy to increase collections by 15 to 20 percent for 2024 is being done on several fronts, including vigilant monitoring and continuous improvement of modernization projects.

Also, the strategy aims to intensify efforts against smuggling and speed up upgrade facilitation with less human intervention.

«We are committed to contributing to the Department of Finance's goal of fostering national socio-economic growth by collecting additional revenue for our fellow Filipino people and guarding the country's borders,» he added.

Based on preliminary reports, Rubio said, the BoC collected P330.27 billion between January and May 13, 2024, exceeding its target of P317.87 billion by 3.90%, or P12.41 billion.

He said the figure represents a 7% increase from the same period last year when collection was at P308.65 billion.

Through the BoC's enhanced border protection, he said, 132 apprehensions were conducted in the first quarter, resulting in seizures worth P28.02 billion

Meanwhile, under the fuel marking program, 7.01 billion liters of fuel were marked for the current calendar year and fuel worth P908.52 billion marked from 2019 to May 9, 2024.

Rubio said his «personal» goal is to collect P1 trillion.

«Collecting P1 trillion is a formidable task but with hard work and with the collective support of our officials and employees in the bureau, there is nothing impossible,» he added.

Rubio said that among the key initiatives the BoC is undertaking to further ramp up revenue collection is the Enhanced Value Reference Information System (e-VRIS), which is a critical risk assessment tool for safeguarding government revenues and facilitating trade.

The BoC is also actively working on implementing an ICT-enabled clearance system for express shipments and in the process of drafting Customs Administrative Orders and Customs Memorandum Orders for e-Commerce to