Customs tops Nov revenue goal

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs surpassed its revenue target in November, preliminary data showed yesterday.

The agency, which accounts for a fifth of state revenues, raised P40.239 billion last month, exceeding its P36.45-billion target for the period in review.

Compared to the same period last year, the bureau said collections were also up 27 percent.

Data remains preliminary though, with final figures to be released by the Bureau of the Treasury later this month.

“In our outlook assessment report, the current collection record has exhibited a better leadership performance in the past five months in 2016, covering July to November,” the BOC said.

In particular, the office attributed the rise in collections to the supposed “positive trust rating” of Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon among Customs’ stakeholders, including employees and traders.

While Customs did not provide a breakdown of collections by port, it said the Manila International Container Port (MICP) topped 16 others with a collection surplus of P1 billion.

Specifically, MICP, the biggest in the country, raked in P11.36 billion,up from its P10.367-billion target for the month.

“This can be attributed to the positive outlook on Commissioner Faeldon and the increase of volume of imports in the port brought about by the twin holidays of Christmas and Chinese New Year,” said Danilo Ballena Jr. of MICP.

“We are targeting to improve more on our revenue collection,” he said.

Faeldon vowed there would be no repeat of the port congestion experienced two years ago as a result of an expanded truck ban in Manila to ease traffic.