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ALTHOUGH
it has set higher collection targets for its ports all
across the archipelago, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) is
also looking for scapegoats to protect its employees
from the carrot-and-stick approach of a law which
penalizes poor performance and rewards excellence.
According to the BOC Commissioner, its P228.2- billion
target set by the interagency Development Budget
Coordination Committee (DBCC) is already deemed final,
indicating that if falls to meet its collections, it may
have to let go of underperforming employees.
Although
collection from its main ports were off target last
year, including the ports of Manila and the Manila
International Container Port (MICP), the customs bureau
still managed to attain its revenue goals.
The
established revenue goals indicate that the Port of
Manila is expected to collect P74.584 billion this year,
much higher than its last year’s actual collection
figure of P66 billion. The MICP, on the other hand, had
been assigned to collect P57.25 billion, more than its
2006 collection of P46.6 billion.
For its
part, the
Batangas
Port
was tasked to bring in P49.93 billion, from the previous
P40.86 billion.
The
customs bureau explained that the port, which posted a
surplus of P10 billion last year from its 2006 target of
P30.847 billion, increased its revenue mainly due to oil
imports.
Meanwhile, BOC Commissioner Napoleon Morales said that
the agency has proposed to the revenue performance
evaluation board (RPEB) that the concerned collector
will not be subject to attrition if the actual amount of
cargo volume assumptions were unmet.
For
instance, if the DBCC—which sets the target of both the
Bureau of Internal Revenue and the BOC, the government’s
largest and second-largest revenue sources—based the
customs’ collection goals on a 100 metric ton (MT) cargo
volume but the amount of expected shipments were not
realized, the collection agent will be free from
penalties.
However,
if the shipment assumption is the same as the actual
cargo volume assessed and the agent failed to collect,
then he can be dismissed, Morales said.
“This is
what we’ve been discussing and what we want to propose
to the RPEB to be fair to each and everyone,” he said.
The
Lateral Attrition law indicates that employees of
agencies that were able to meet or exceed its target
will be rewarded by a certain percentage of the amount
collected but will have to be dismissed when they fail
to reach goals.
However,
many agencies are still appealing for some leeway since
there are many “factors” to consider, including the
country’s economic growth. Cargo volumes handled at
facilities in
Manila,
the Philippines’ shipping hub, have been in decline.
Last
year, BOC collected P198.1 billion, more than its
P196-billion target. |
