Customs bureau likely to miss 2012 revenue target

Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon. FILE PHOTO

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has yet to disclose its total revenue collection for 2012 because “the figures are still being finalized,” Commissioner Ruffy Biazon said Tuesday.

“Some collections from various ports nationwide are still coming in,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a text message.

These are, among others, the major ports of Manila and Cebu and the Manila International Container Port.

Sources in the bureau, however, said it had failed to meet its 2012 collection target of just over P347 billion, raking in only close to P288 billion, for a shortfall of nearly P60 billion.

But the sources pointed out that the collection was P22.5 billion more than was brought in in 2011, which was P265.1 billion.

Biazon had earlier described the bureau’s collection target for 2012 as “stretched.”

The goal was “increased by almost 30 percent compared  to 2011… so while we missed the target in the first 11 months of 2012, it was really because it was high to begin with,” he said.

Late last year, a study conducted by the House of Representatives’ Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) showed the BOC would most likely miss its revenue target for 2012.

Citing the bureau’s collection figures in the first seven months of the year, the CPBRD said the BOC was expected to raise only P290 billion.

With a 2013 collection target of P397 billion, Biazon said this year would be “more challenging” for agency personnel.

The Bureau of Immigration, on the other hand, surpassed its revenue target of P2.5 billion for 2012 with a collection of more than P2.7 billion which was attributed to the surge in foreign tourists visiting the country.

In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said that last year, bureau collections totaled P2.728 billion—five percent higher than its target of P2.5 billion and 14 percent more than the previous year.

At least P1.77 billion was collected by the main office in Intramuros, Manila, while P956 million came from immigration field offices across the country.

David attributed the increase to the large number of foreign visitors last year.

The Department of Tourism recorded 3.83 million tourist arrivals from January to November last year mostly from South Korea, the United States, Japan, China and Taiwan.

“Our collection from immigration fees is steadily rising and that again indicates that the Philippines is fast emerging as a favored tourist and investment destination in the Asia Pacific,” David said. With a report from Jocelyn R. Uy