‘FMP’ yields P166 billion for government in 2021

BOC surpasses January collection goal; another drug claimant arrested

On Feb 7, 2022

A tanker truck driver and his helper, after being apprehended by members of the joint BOC-BIR Field Inspection Unit in Mariveles, Bataan, May 21, 2021, for carrying 30,000 liters of ‘unmarked’ diesel. The campaign against smuggled and pilfered petroleum products is part of the government’s ‘Fuel Marking Program’ (FMP) to increase government revenue while curbing the rampant smuggling of oil-based fuel products (photo credit: BOC-PIAD).

THE government continues to benefit from the success of its ‘Fuel Marking Program’ (FMP) after marking more than 17 billion liters of fuel last year that also generated a total of P165.96 billion in revenues.

In a report to Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero, the Enforcement Group (EG), which is in charge of the program under Deputy Commissioner Atty. Teddy Raval, said they also apprehended two fuel tankers loaded with 86,888 liters of diesel and kerosene valued respectively at P5.16 million and P7.4 million.

Eight retail gasoline stations where the illicit products were found were likewise padlocked and recommended for the filing of criminal cases.

The FMP was launched by the government in September 2019 not only as a tool to check the smuggling of oil products but also, to generate legal revenues for the government. It is jointly being implemented by the BOC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Raval noted that since its launching in 2019 up to December last year, they have already marked more than 34.59 liters of gasoline, diesel and kerosene with total generated revenue at P313.98 billion.

The accomplishment contributed to the BOC again surpassing its assigned target last year when it registered a surplus of P29.046 billion, collecting P645.785 billion from its assigned target of P616.45 billion.

For January 2022, the BOC also announced overshooting its assigned target by more than P6 billion, after actually collecting P58.158 billion. The amount is also 11.58 percent higher from its assigned target of P52.123 billion.

Assistant Commissioner and spokesperson, Atty. Vincent Maronilla, citing the preliminary report from the BOC-Financial Service, said that 14 out of the BOC’s 17 collection districts hit their respective assigned targets, namely:

The Ports Subic, San Fernando, POM, MICP, Batangas, Legaspi, Iloilo, Cebu, Surigao, Zamboanga, Davao, Clark, Aparri and Limay (see also Pinoy Exposé article of February 2, 2022).

For 2022, the BOC is tasked to collect P679 billion, an amount that Guerrero said is “doable,” given the success of his ’10-Point Priority Programs’ for the agency that reached more than 81 percent completion last year (see also Pinoy Exposé, Volume 3, Issue No. 3).

Another drug claimant arrested

Meanwhile, another drug claimant was arrested last January 31, 2022, at the Central Mail Exchange Center (CMEC) in Pasay City.

NAIA district collector, Carmelita Talusan, in a report to Guerrero, identified the suspect as a certain ‘Elvira Vicente’ who claimed a package of “personal gifts and clothing” from Canada sent by one Vincent Castillo.’

However, pre-clearance examination conducted by the NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (IADITG) showed the package include 20 pieces of “cannabis-infused gummy”
and 49 pieces of THC vape cartridges commonly known as marijuana.

The arrested claimant and the seized evidence are now in the custody of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for further investigation and filing of appropriate charges in court.

The arrest of Vicente came on the heel of the arrest last January 20, 2022, of another drug claimant after a successful ‘controlled-delivery operation’ conducted by the PDEA and the Port of Clark that also resulted to the confiscation of some P5.2 million worth of ‘Ecstasy’ pills from the Netherlands (see also Pinoy Exposé, Volume 3, Issue No. 3).