Customs collection sank 8.5 percent year-on-year in April, the first drop this year, following the leadership changes at the bureau and the double-digit decline in prices of imported petroleum products.
The Bureau of Customs said in a statement it collected P28.141 billion in import duties in April, down from P30.764 billion collected in the same month last year.
Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina, who assumed the post on April 24, could not be reached for comment. He replaced John Sevilla, who resigned in April.
The April collection also fell P9.2 billion or 24.7 percent short of the P37.35-billion target for the month, data from the agency showed.
The drop was traced to the 68-percent slump in collection from oil imports to P5.441 billion in April from P9.141 billion a year ago, as the weighted average of crude oil and petroleum prices fell 45 percent during the period.
The agency said while the volume of oil imports continued to rise, this was offset by the sharp drop in oil prices.
Collections from non-oil imports grew 5 percent to P22.7 billion from P21.623 billion in April 2014, on the back of a 12-percent volume increase and and 2.6-percent value gain of imports.
The April collection pulled down the growth in customs collection in the first four months to 2.6 percent from 7 percent in the first three months.
The agency said collection in the January-April period amounted to P120.384 billion, up from P117.266 billion recorded in the same period last year.
Data showed the bureau missed its target for the first four months by P20 billion or 14.4 percent.
In 2014, the bureau saw its collection jump 21 percent to P369.3 billion from P304.9 billion in 2013.
Customs collection accounts for about a fifth of government revenues. Latest data showed the national government incurred a budget deficit of P33.5 billion in the first quarter, lower than P84.1 billion gap registered a year ago.
The first-quarter deficit was 66 percent or P64.6 billion lower than the P98.1-billion deficit target for the period.
Revenue collection rose 18 percent in the January-March period to P470.5 billion from a year ago, but were still 3 percent lower than the P484.1-billion goal.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue raised P307.1 billion in the first quarter, up by 16 percent from a year ago.
