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AN
interagency committee which prescribes revenue targets
for government offices should also examine collection
efforts without being too preoccupied about meeting
these goals.
According to the Bureau of Customs, the national
government’s second-largest revenue source, the
Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) should
look at the agency’s performance on a yearly basis and
not solely on whether an agency has met its revenue
targets.
“It’s
impossible for us to attain it because of the rising
peso [exchange rate against the dollar],” Customs chief
Napoleon L. Morales said during the sidelines of his
agency’s 106th anniversary Wednesday. “DBCC is still
using a P46 to $1 exchange rate, how can you expect us
to attain our targets?”
Since
the bureau levies tariffs in US currency, it collects
fewer pesos for every dollar every time the peso—the
currency used to set revenue goals—rises. The current
rate is at P40.70 to the dollar.
Although
Morales admitted that the bureau failed to meet its
January targets of P15.84 billion after posting a
shortfall of P521 million, the figure is still more than
P3 billion compared with P11.759-billion collection
during the same period last year.
The DBCC,
composed of the head of the Departments of Finance,
Budget and Management, National Economic and Development
Authority, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and the
Executive Secretary, prescribes collection targets for
the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Customs bureau based
on economic assumptions, including volume of cargo.
The
national government wants to balance the budget this
year or, if not, before President Arroyo ends her term
in 2010.
The
bureau has been given P254-billion target for 2008,
higher than the revised P228.2-billion target in 2007.
The
agency only collected P210.6 billion last year.
Morales
said that as a result of the agency’s failure to meet
goals, he may have to defend his employees to explain
why the targets were not achieved.
Based on
the lateral attrition law, which took effect in 2007,
Customs employees who meet their collection targets will
be given rewards while those who fail will be
terminated.
A number
of Customs employees have already received a total of
P539 million as a reward after the agency exceeded its
P197-billion collection in 2006 by P2.2 billion.
However,
things turned sour for the bureau in 2007 after the peso
surged P40 to the dollar.
Despite
its failure to meet its January targets, the agency
still topped its collection year-on-year as a result of
its updated database due to the computerization,
mobilization of the Post Entry Audit Group that ran
after a number of oil companies, among other measures.
Based on
BOC’s preliminary reports, 10 port districts, including
Manila International Container Port, were able to meet
their respective targets during the period. |
