BOC OVERSHOOTS TARGET COLLECTION ANEW

Marilao raid yields P80 million smuggled goods

On Aug 10, 2020

A BUREAU of Customs officer is shown checking some of the counterfeit products worth more than P500 million prior to their destruction t last August 8, 2020, at a waste disposal facility in Valenzuela City, which was witnessed by representatives from the various local industries. Comm. Rey Leonardo Guerrero ordered the destruction to prevent the goods from being pilfered back to the local market.

FOR the second consecutive month, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has overshot its collection target after it registered a surplus collection of more than P2.3 billion in July, despite the country still under stringent community quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data released by the bureau’s Financial Service showed that 10 of its 17 collection districts managed to exceed their respective collection targets for July that resulted to the bureau’s actual collection of P50.072 billion, some 5 percent or P2.398 billion higher than the assigned target of P47.674 billion.

It was the second consecutive month the BOC managed to overshoot its assigned target during this period of pandemic after lackluster performance during the first five months of the year.

Last June, the BOC also surpassed its collection target of P40.739 billion by more than P2 billion, or 4.5 percent higher than its assigned target of P40.739 billion,

Assistant Commissioner Atty. Vincent Maronilla, concurrent BOC spokesman, attributed the positive deviation in collection to the growth in import volume, “improved” system of valuation the agency has adopted and, the “intensified collection effort” of all ports.

Port of Cagayan de Oro district collector, John Simon is dwarfed by the containers containing the trash from South Korea, which were loaded into a vessel last week for their return to their port of origin. The garbage, totaling 6,000 metric tons, arrived in the Philippines in 2018.

The official also credited the conscious effort by the national government not to impede the flow of trade and goods despite the pandemic.

The ten collection that contributed to the bureau’s collection effort are: Port of Aparri, followed by the Port of Tacloban, Port of Limay, Port of Zamboanga, Port of Cagayan de Oro, Port of Davao, Port of Clark, Port of Cebu, Port of Batangas and, Port of Subic.

Unable to again meet their assigned targets are: Port of Manila, Manila International Container Port, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Port of Iloilo, Port of Surigao, Port of San Fernando and the Port of Legaspi.

Meanwhile, combined forces from the Enforcement and Security Service (ESS, Customs Police) under Dir. Yogi Filemon Ruiz and the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) under Dir. Jeffrey Tacio, confiscated more than P80 million worth of smuggled cigarettes and facemasks at a warehouse in Marilao, Bulacan last August 5, 2020.

Armed with a Letter of Authority (LOA) signed by Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero, members of the ESS-QRT and CIIS, in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), raided the warehouse and discovered 1,000 master cases of illicit cigarettes which include brands such as Marlboro premium cigarettes, among others.

The raid also yielded 648 boxes of fake N95 masks which copied designs and logos of famous luxury fashion brands.

The seized items were transported to the ESS Security Coral located, Port of Manila, for further inventory and investigation.