Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio vowed to meet the agency’s P959 billion collection target for 2024 through intensified efforts against smuggling.
Rubio said the bureau’s strategy to increase collections by 15 to 20 percent this year will be achieved through vigilant monitoring and continuous improvement of modernization projects.
He said among these initiatives is the Enhanced Value Reference Information System (e-VRIS), which is a critical risk assessment tool for safeguarding government revenues and facilitating trade.
“The BOC is also actively working on implementing an ICT-enabled clearance system for express shipments and in the process of drafting Customs Administrative Orders (CAO) and Customs Memorandum Orders (CMO) for e-Commerce to prevent revenue leakages,” Rubio added.
To address the issue of smuggling, he said the BOC will strengthen border control by engaging and collaborating with other law enforcement agencies for seamless coordination and information sharing against the entry of illicit goods, contraband, drugs, and high-value commodities that pose a significant threat against the agency’s revenue collection performance.
In facilitating trade, the bureau plans to continue streamlining and digitizing customs processes, Rubio said, noting the importance of the Customs Customer Care Portal in reducing face-to-face transactions and promoting transparency.
The bureau’s modernization and anti-corruption programs have significantly improved the collection revenue of the agency with a total of P883.624 billion from January to December last year, exceeding its collection target of P874.166 billion.
Year-on-year, the bureau’s revenues grew 2.46 percent from P862.419 billion in 2022.
Customs spokesperson and Assistant Commissioner Vincent Philip Maronilla said the bureau recorded a collection surplus of more than P10 billion.
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 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, Maronilla said.
“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 Airport, Legazpi, Tacloban, Iloilo and San Fernando.
The BOC’s sale of forfeited goods conducted through public auctions last year generated P164.503 million in revenues.
The bureau has so far digitized 161 out of 166 customs processes, garnering a 96.99 percent digitalization rate.
A total of 90 criminal cases have been filed by the BOC before the Department of Justice (DOJ), 60 of which are related to agricultural smuggling.
Among these, 56 pertain to large-scale smuggling, which violates the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act.
The BOC likewise confiscated P42.4 billion worth of smuggled commodities as part of its strengthened border protection and anti-smuggling efforts.
Among the agency’s top-seized commodities this year were P24.3 billion worth of counterfeit goods, P7.58 billion worth of illegal drugs, P4.55 billion worth of agricultural products and tobacco, and P964 million worth of general merchandise.