BOC collection up by 11%

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MANILA — The Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) collection for the month of August increased by 11 percent despite the port congestion problems in Manila.

BOC reported on Friday that their revenues last month is at P29.06 billion despite August being the “ghost month.” In addition, the actual cash collection surged by 13.4 percent. All in all, the country’s collection for the first eight months of the year is up by 17.4 percent.

The breakdown of the biggest collections is as follows: Manila International Container Port (P8 billion), Port of Batangas (P7.2 billion), Port of Manila (P4.5 billion), Limay port (P3.2 billion), and Ninoy Aquino International Airport (P2.2 billion).

The agency noted that the revenue from the port of Batangas is the biggest with 42 percent increase year-on-year. This allowed the agency to exceed its target of P6.1 billion for the month “as more importers opted to divert their shipments there to avoid congestion in the Manila ports.”

Other ports that posted significant earnings include those in Aparri, Davao, Iloilo and Subic. According to the BOC, from January to August, their collection is already at P232.92 billion or 17 percent more than what they have collected during the same period in 2013.

The largest contributors to the revenues include the Manila International Container Port (P63 billion), Port of Batangas (P50.2 billion), Port of Manila (P40.9 billion), Limay port (P26.6 billion), and Ninoy Aquino International Airport (P18.3 billion).

According to BOC’s public information and assistance division head Charo Logarto-Lagamon, the high collections of the agency showed that there is indeed an improvement in policies, reforms, and processes as implemented by its head Commissioner John P. Sevilla.

She added that these proved to be “a step in the right direction” as well as an “impetus for sustainable revenue collection.” BOC is still in good form and they expect to hit their P401 billion target for 2014, said Logarto-Lagamon.