BOC logs historic collection; surpasses midyear target for 2022

On Jul 1, 2022

The champagne, please! Comm. Rey Leonardo Guerrero, leads the toast for the successful completion of the BOC's enrollment with the PGS, April 20, 2022. Sharing the good news with Guerrero are the 7 customs deputy commissioners (photo credit: BOC-PIAD).

DESPITE the incessant negative reports in June targeting top officials of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) by linking them to corruption, the agency announced it has lodged a record high of over P76 billion in monthly revenue for the government, eclipsing by P6 billion the P70 billion highest monthly collection it garnered in March this year.

Atty. Vincent Maronilla, BOC assistant commissioner and spokesperson and citing the records from the Financial Services (FS), said the BOC collected P76.290 billion, against its assigned target of P56.287 billion for a 35.5 percent positive deviation equivalent to P20.003 billion.

Maronilla said the new record eclipsed by more than P6 billion the bureau’s previous highest monthly collection record of P70.778 billion for March 2022.

As a result, Maronilla said they are confident that the BOC is well on its way of achieving, if not surpassing, its assigned annual target of P679.23 billion after they breached their midyear target of P327.712 billion with a positive deviation of more than 21 percent equivalent to P68.992 billion.

He noted that based on year-on-year comparison, the current midyear collection is 31.5 percent higher or P95.058 billion more than the P301.746 billion collected last year.

The revenue collection for June also includes additional revenues from the Tax Expenditure Fund (TEF) collection of P301 million and Post Clearance Audit Group (PCAG) collection of P115.97 million headed by Maronilla, the records also show.

“These collection efforts also mark the 6th consecutive month of the BOC in exceeding its monthly target,” Maronilla added.

Looking back further, the BOC has consistently met its assigned target since June 2021, enabling it to surpass by over P29 billion its annual target last year of P616.89 billion, after actually collecting P645.8 billion (see also Pinoy Exposé, June 6, 2022).

Based on the FS report, 14 of the 17 BOC collection districts were able to surpass their corresponding collection targets namely: Subic, San Fernando, POM, MICP, Batangas, Legaspi, Iloilo, Cebu, Surigao, Zamboanga, Davao, Clark, Aparri, and Limay.

Guerrero, for his part, shrug off the negative reports about the agency, stressing their record performance and the positive results of the reforms he has started on assuming the top customs post in October 2018 “can very well speak for themselves.”

He also urged those accusing them of involvement in corruption to charge them in court “where we can have the opportunity to defend ourselves and clear our names in the right forum.”