FOR the fifth consecutive month and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has again surpassed its assigned collection by over 5 percent or some P2.5 billion.
Based on the report by the bureau’s Financial Management Service, Assistant Commissioner and bureau spokesperson, Atty. Vincent ‘Jett’ Maronilla, said they collected P50.9 billion for the month of October compared to their assigned target of P48.4 billion.
“Based on the preliminary report from the BOC-Financial Service, seven out of the seventeen collection districts exceeded their target for the month, namely: Ports of Batangas, Manila, Zamboanga, Subic, Clark, Limay, and Cebu,” Maronilla added.
The BOC has been registering surplus tax collection since June, and has now an accumulated collection of P448.95 billion since the start of the year.
Maronilla said the figure already represented 88.7 percent of their 2020 target collection of P506.15 billion.
The official attributed the bureau’s impressive performance to the “improved valuation and intensified collection efforts of all the ports, gradual improvement of importation volume and the government’s effort in ensuring unhampered movement of goods domestically and internationally considering the pandemic situation.”
He also expressed confidence that at the end of year, the BOC would even surpass its assigned target.
“The ‘personal goal’ of Comm. Guerrero is not for us to simply meet our assigned target but to even surpass it by several billions more as our contribution to the government and our people,” Maronilla said.
Meanwhile at the NAIA collection district, district collector, Atty. Carmelita ‘Mimel’ Talusan also reported they are about ready to donate the assorted electronic gadgets to the Department of Education for use in the government’s “blended education program” during the pandemic.
The donation of seized gadgets in all the ports of the bureau was a commitment made by Guerrero to the DepEd and to lawmakers during the deliberation of the bureau’s budget for next year more than a month ago.
“Customs NAIA,” Talusan told Guerrero, “has conducted inventory of seized and abandoned e-devices and other materials for donation to the Department of Education to aid in the latter’s distance learning program.”
“Several devices and items identified for donation include flash drives, hard drives, mobile phones, full HD LED computer monitors, printers, laptops, routers, pocket WiFi, computer tablets, educational books, and school bags and shoes,” she added.
Talusan said they have also coordinated with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and with the Optical Media Board (OMB) for clearance and to ensure that the items to be donated passed the country’s minimum quality and safety standards.