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By William B. Depasupil, Reporter
THE Bureau of Customs window-dressed its January
to November 2006 revenue collection report that claimed it had met
the P197-billion collection target for 2006, according to the
agency’s own documents.
The report submitted by Commissioner Napoleon
Morales to the Department of Finance claimed the bureau collected
P174.6 billion from the period of January to November 2006.
The figure was slightly higher than the
P173.67-billion collection target for the same period.
But the bureau included in the Commissioner’s
Office collection report the P7.8-billion collected from rice
importation of the National Food Authority (NFA), which should have
been left out as it falls under the category of “tax expenditure
fund.”
Shortfall
The phrase refers to importation fees charged on
state agencies like the NFA, which go directly to the national
coffers after being deducted from their budget. The fund is not part
of the agency’s revenue collection.
Without the P7.8-billion advance payment from
the NFA, total cash collection for the said 11-month period should
only have been P166.719 billion, a shortfall of P7.9 billion.
Finance department sources also cited
differences between Morales’s summary report and that of the full
report.
Morales’ summary report carried a seeming
error, claiming a total collection of P181.63 billion.
But the combined sum of the 15 districts’
collections and that of Morales’ own office is only P174.61
billion.
Rehashed figures
Morales’ long report likewise showed that the
bureau failed to achieve its collection for the month of November.
It only collected a total of P14.998 billion as
against target of P18.385 billion or a shortfall of P3.387 billion.
His summary report, however, claimed a November
collection of P16.9 billion.
More worrisome to experts combing the Custom’s
books is the sameness of the November collection report and that for
the first 12 days of December.
The two reports carry not only the same total;
they present the same figures for all Customs districts.
This, even Customs officials acknowledged, is
highly improbable as the December report has only 12 days.
The year’s last month, they added,
traditionally normally accounts lower collections as most
importations are in by November.
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