The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Monday reported that it has surpassed its PHP901 billion collection target for 2023.
BOC spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Vincent Philip Maronilla, in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing, said they have also recorded a collection surplus of more than PHP10 billion.
“Na-achieve po namin ito by – iyong ginawa po naming streamlining ng mga process namin and of course, ini-improve po namin iyong revenue efficiency namin, we tried to locate iyong mga loopholes namin (We have achieved this through streamlining our processes and of course, by improving our revenue collection efficiency. We tried to locate our loopholes) and we tried to plug it, through some scientific methods na amin pong pinagtulung-tulungan, (that we have collectively worked for), together with some private sector representatives like the Ateneo School of Government and iyong mga stakeholders po namin (our stakeholders),” he added.
Maronilla also said major ports contributed to achieving and eventually surpassing last year’s target collection.
“Fifty percent of the collection of the Bureau of Customs, ano na kaagad ho iyon ‘no, that’s the Manila International Container Port which 30 percent po ng volume namin and about 30 percent of our target comes from. Dadagdag po diyan iyong Batangas Port, nasa mga bentesingko porsiyento po ng aming collection ay nanggagaling diyan. And, of course, the Port of Manila, which is mga around 18 to 20 percent nanggagaling naman po (Fifty percent of the collection of the Bureau of Customs automatically comes from the Manila International Container Port. This is where 30 percent of the volume and 30 percent of the target collection come from. In addition, we have the Batangas Port, where we get 25 percent of our collection. And of course, the Port of Manila, where around 18 to 20 percent of our collection comes from),” he said.
Other major ports that contributed to the high collection of the BOC include the Ports of Cebu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro, Subic, Clark, Ninoy Aquino International Aiport, Legazpi, Tacloban, Iloilo and San Fernando, according to Maronilla.
Meanwhile, he said the BOC is confident of hitting its PHP1 trillion target collection for 2024.
“If we continue on our track to improve further ‘yung revenue efficency namin at pag-improve ng aming (our revenue efficiency and the improvement of our) processes, mas maeenganyo na mag-negosyo ung mga negosyante at dumadagdag din ang mga investors natin na who are contributing dun sa rating (we can lure more entrepreneurs and investors who are contributing to our) imports and duties, by that, we are projecting to collect PHP1 trillion and I think, we can even surpass it,” he added.
Maronilla, meanwhile, said the digitalization of the bureau’s processes is now at 99 percent.
“May entities na di pa nila kayang mag-interlink sa system ng BOC. Tinutugunan po namin ‘yan para makumpleto ‘yung inter-linkage natin dyan. Ang goal po natin sa 2024, ngayong na-digitize na ‘yung processes, is to integrate these processes para po isang cohesive na proseso ang gagawin nitong mga improvements na ito. (Some entities still cannot interlink their system with the BOC. We are working on that so that we can complete the inter-linkage process. For 2024, now that we have digitized the processes, our goal is to integrate these processes so that we can only have one cohesive process in implementing these improvements),” he added. (PNA)