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AFTER a negative performance in January to March, the Bureau of
Customs (BOC) announced Wednesday it exceeded its collection target
for April.
In a statement, Customs Commissioner Napoleon
Morales said the bureau surpassed its collection goal for April by
P30 million to reach P21.76 billion, breaking a negative
first-quarter performance.
Morales said the revenues collected in April
were higher by P4.56 billion or 26.5 percent than the collection in
the same month last year.
The bureau’s preliminary reports show eight
ports had surpassed their individual targets, led by the Ninoy
Aquino International Airport with a surplus of P348 million,
followed by Cagayan de Oro with P113 million, Cebu with P60 million
and San Fernando with P57 million. The Manila International
Container Port, Legazpi, Davao and Clark marginally exceeded their
targets by P7.5 million, P0.5 million, P0.4 million and P1.4
million, respectively.
The seven district ports that fell short of
target included the major port of Manila, down by P1.65 billion, and
the “oil port” of Batangas, by P862 million.
The other ports that missed the targets were
Iloilo, by P1.6 million; Tacloban, by P9.7 million; Surigao, by P4.3
million; Zamboanga, by P2 million, and Subic, by P91 million.
Cumulative collections for the first four months
of the year reached P70.64 billion, up 23 percent or P13.22 billion
from last year’s January to April performance but still short of
the P73.48-billion target for the period by P2.84 billion or 3.9
percent.
Morales said the positive performance in April
would trigger the start of positive collections and higher monthly
surpluses for the rest of the year and enable BOC to recover the
shortfall incurred in the first quarter.
“I monitor daily collections of the ports to
make sure they are on track in reaching targets. Only vigilance in
enforcement and efficiency in collection could sustain positive
revenue collections and hit the year-end target,” Morales said.
The Bureau of Customs, the government’s second
largest revenue collection agency, is tasked to collect P254.47
billion for the whole year.
-- Chino S. Leyco
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