BOC overshoots April target, barely
World Bank cites BOC jump in global logistics performance index
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) under Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio continues to deliver on the high expectation of Malacañang and the country’s fiscal managers by surpassing its assigned monthly collection for April and the first four months of 2023.
In a statement, Rubio said actual revenue collection for April was tallied at P68.274 billion or a minuscule positive increment of P75 million against its target of P68.199 billion. However, the April take is still 3.97 percent higher from the same period last year that totaled P65.669 billion, the statement pointed out.
For the first 4 months of 2023, the customs chief said the agency already garnered P281.902 billion in revenue against the assigned target of P265.220 billion equivalent to 6.29 percent positive deviation or P16.582 billion above target.
Downplaying the razor-thin surplus for April, the BOC pointed out that on April 28, the BOC recorded its highest single day collection at over P7.51 billion, beating by 23.64 percent or by P1.436 billion the previous record of P6.074 billion collection last October 14, 2022, during the term of Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz.
Ruiz was succeeded by Rubio last February.
The BOC attributes its collection performance to its higher rate of assessment, particularly of non-oil importations.
“We will continue to uphold our commitment to transparency, accountability, and service excellence as we strive to meet our revenue targets and contribute to the growth and development of our country,” the customs chief said.
Improved Global Standing
In a separate statement, Rubio also welcomed the country’s impressive jump in ranking under the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) that measures a country’s ability to trade goods across borders with speed and reliability.
The LPI showed that the Philippines move up 17 places, from 60th in 2018 to 43rd spot this year out of the 139 countries surveyed by the WB.
Economies are rated based on customs performance, infrastructure, international shipments, logistics competence and equity, timeliness, and tracking and tracing metrics.
The survey, which was conducted from September 6 to November 5 last year, consulted logistics professionals to assess how easy or difficult it is to trade manufactured goods with various countries. In particular, the Philippines ranked 59th in customs performance this year, up from 85th in 2018.
“The latest results of the World Bank Logistics Performance Index (LPI) prove that the BOC is on the right track as regards trade efficiency,” Rubio noted.
“We shall continue these trade facilitation efforts while implementing new measures to maximize the performance of Customs processes.”
