BOC inches closer to meeting P617 billion collection goal for 2021

Anti-smuggling drive continues to show results; repeat offender busted in CDO

On Dec 6, 2021

Customs officers at the Port of Cagayan de Oro, examining a shipment of red onions from China worth P6 million after its apprehension last December 1, 2021. The consignee, Humility Trading, had been previously apprehended also for smuggling in October 2020 of used clothing and is already facing smuggling charges before the Department of Justice. Clearly, the BOC has not suspended or cancelled the company's accreditation, thus allowing it to continue with its smuggling activities (photo credit: BOC-PIAD).

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) continues to inch closer to meeting its P617 billion assigned target as the year also draws to a close after overshooting its November collection by P6.9 billion.

Deputy Commissioner Atty. Vener Baquiran of the Revenue Collection and Monitoring Group (RCMG), quoting from the preliminary report by the Financial Management Service, said actual collection for last month totaled P58.789 billion, 13.4 percent higher than its assigned target of P51.847 billion.

Baquiran added that 12 of the bureau’s 17 collection districts posted revenue surpluses that contributed to closing the gap in their annual revenue goal, namely:

The ports of Subic, San Fernando, Manila International Container Port, NAIA, Batangas, Legaspi, Iloilo, Tacloban, Zamboanga, Davao, Clark, and Limay.

From year-to-date, the BOC has now collected P584.156 billion, which is already 94.7 percent of their assigned annual target. With the development, the agency is now just P32.593 billion away from meeting its collection goal for this year.

Baquiran said the rebound in collection performance can be attributed to several factors, including the improvement in volume of importation, improved valuation, the gradual improvement in the country’s economic performance with more businesses opening up and the “intensified collection effort” of all the bureau’s ports.

In a brief message, Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero once again commended the collective effort of the men and women of BOC who, despite the risk to their health and safety, “showed their unwavering commitment and dedication to service.”

Repeat offender nabbed in CDO

Even as the BOC is confident of surpassing its assigned revenue, field reports also show that the agency is similarly on its way to establishing record-high numbers in its anti-smuggling campaign for 2021.

Customs officers at the Port of Clark extract the illegal drugs hidden inside a baggage of “clothes” from South Africa worth P3 million. The subsequent ‘controlled-delivery operation’ they conducted together with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), resulted to the arrest of a suspect in Hermosa, Bataan last December 1, 2021 (photo credit: BOC-PIAD).

At the Port of Clark, District Collector Alexandra Lumontad announced last December 1, 2021, the arrest of a drug suspect in Bataan in another successful ‘controlled-delivery operation’ jointly conducted by the BOC and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) working under the Customs Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force (CAIDTF).

Lumontad said 470 grams of shabu valued at P3 million was also recovered.

The official added they earlier received “reliable information” that illegal drugs concealed inside a travelling bag from South Africa was about to arrive at the Port of Clark.

After confirming the presence of the illegal drugs from the shipment declared as “clothing,” the CAIDTF then conducted the controlled delivery operation that ended at the suspect’s address in Hermosa, Bataan. The named of the arrested suspect was not revealed, however.

In Pasay City, customs operatives under the Intelligence Group (IG) announced the confiscation last November 29, 2021 of fake consumer goods at the Baclaran Wholesale Complex worth more than P1.1 billion.

Armed with a Letter of Authority (LOA) issued by BOC Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero, Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence (DCI) Raniel Ramiro, said found inside the inspected warehouses were fake consumer brands, among them: Victoria’s Secret, Birkenstock, Lacoste, Converse, Nike, Adidas, Jordan, Havaianas, Barbie, and HP to name a few.

Over at the Cagayan de Oro port, district collector, Atty. Elvira Cruz, informed Guerrero on the confiscation of another fresh shipment of 2-container vans also last December 1, 2021, of smuggled red onions, this time declared as “margarine” and valued at more than P6 million.

Cruz identified the erring consignee as ‘Humility Trading.’

The company, BOC records show, had been previously apprehended by the BOC, also for smuggling, and had in fact been already charged by the bureau before the Department of Justice (DOJ) last July for the foiled smuggling of used clothing (“ukay-ukay”) worth P2 million on October 16, 2020, also at the Port of Cagayan de Oro (see also Pinoy Exposé news, November 2, 2020 and July 10, 2021).

Since August of this year, Collector Cruz noted that the Port of CDO has already confiscated smuggled agricultural products, particularly red onions, valued at more than P200 million.