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THE
Bureau of Customs (BOC) failed to attain its target
collection for October due to the stronger peso,
according to Commissioner Napoleon Morales, citing
October collection of P18.94 billion, or P2.76 billion
below the target of P21.702 billion.
As a
result, the Customs deficit for the 10-month period
widened to P9.79 billion with less than 60 days to
attain its year-end goal of P223 billion. The latter
figure, in fact, is already P5 billion lower than
original as set by the interagency Development Budget
Coordinating Committee (DBCC).
But
Morales claimed the “remedial measures and alternative
measures we have set in place are working in spite of
the odds.”
He
added, “Our collection last year from January to October
based on a P52-to-a-dollar foreign exchange rate was
P164.7 billion. This year, based on a rate of exchange
of approximately P45 to $1, we managed to collect P171.9
billion, P7.2 billion above our 2006 output.”
Unfortunately for Customs, government needs the target
amount and not any statistics showing collections
exceeding past figures so that the national budget won’t
have a deficit.
As it
is, the ports of Manila, Manila International Container
Port, Batangas, Iloilo, Cebu, Tacloban, Surigao,
Zamboanga, Subic and Clark all failed to meet their
monthly targets.
“These
are not yet the final figures. We are still collating
the collections. As of now, Batangas is still short by
some P1 billion and the Port of Manila is still coming
up with the final collection of its subports in Limay
and Mariveles, where most oil depots are situated,” said
Morales.
“We are
trying our very best, but things get harder and harder
every day for us at the bureau as the peso continues to
grow stronger. This aspect is very vital because the
first step in tax collection is converting the invoice
value [in dollar] to peso,” he said.
For the
past months, the BOC has been active in implementing
measures to augment its shortfall and meet its full-year
target. These include rolling out nonintrusive
container-scanning machines to detect smuggling,
auditing past oil imports and auctioning off various
goods, targeting a zero inventory by year-end. |
