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THE Department of Finance has approved the creation of the Port of
Limay in Bataan as the 16th collection district of the Bureau of
Customs.
In an administrative order (AO), Finance
Secretary Margarito Teves said the port, which will have
jurisdiction over the entire province of Bataan except the Subic Bay
Freeport Zone, will handle the bulk of Petron Corp.’s oil imports.
Petron services vital industries such as
transport, manufacturing, shipping, and power generation in the
country.
“The Port of Limay shall have Mariveles as
its support of entry,” the AO document read.
Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said the
Limay port will enhance the bureau’s revenue collection, trade
facilitation and trade security, adding that President Arroyo wants
it to be a district for crude importation.
Morales said the agency has asked the
permission of the Department of Budget and Management to hire
additional personnel for the port.
The government has allocated a portion of
Customs’ budget for the computerization requirements in Limay.
Customs’15 other collection districts across
the Philippines have expressed confidence they would meet the
bureau’s full-year target of P254.4 billion.
Major contributors to the proceeds this year
are the Port of Manila, which has the highest revenue target among
all the districts with 33 percent to P84.4 billion of the target,
followed by the Manila International Container Port with P64
billion, or 25.15 percent and the 22.37 percent to P58.9 billion of
Batangas.
The Ninoy Aquino International Airport has to
collect P18 billion to meet the 7-percent target this year, while TE
has a target of P7.5 billion during the 12-month period.
Cebu is set to collect P5 billion; Subic, 4.78
billion; Surigao, P2.9 billion; and San Fernando, P1.1 billion.
--Chino S. Leyco
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