BOC chief admits 2013 target shortfall

THE BUREAU of Customs (BOC) is extremely unlikely to meet its 2013 revenue collection target of P340 billion for this year, new Customs Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla has admitted to the INQUIRER.

“It’s impossible… we’re not going to meet our 2013 target,” said the former finance undersecretary for privatization.

January to November collections totaled only P280.74 billion, which is P31.26 billion short of the Department of Finance-attached agency’s revenue goal of P312 billion for the 11-month period.

Sevilla also said he was not satisfied with the bureau’s collections for December.

“As of the data that I saw, which would have been as of (Dec. 20), we’re somewhere between 5 percent and 6 percent below (the target) for the month of December …of course, I’m not satisfied,” he said.

The BOC’s revenue goal for the month is P27.99 billion.

Asked if he was confident the bureau would meet its 2014 collection target of a little over P408 billion, which some Customs officials found too high and unrealistic, Sevilla said that “whether I’m optimistic or not actually doesn’t matter.”

“We have to work hard to meet it,” he said, stressing that “it’s not a question of attitude, it’s a question of we have to work.”

“It is not the bureau which sets these targets. It’s our job to meet the target regardless of what we think about it,” he added.

In November, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the BOC could boost its revenue collections by implementing new measures against smuggling.

According to DOF estimates, the government loses around P200 billion in potential revenues every year due to smuggling, which in turn has been partly blamed on what former Customs chief Ruffy Biazon called the “continuing corruption” in the bureau.

The former Muntinlupa City legislator, who quit his post after being linked to the pork barrel scam, had admitted the bureau would most likely miss its annual collection target, citing the slowdown of imports, globalization and trade liberalization, among other factors.

When he assumed the post early this month, Sevilla reminded the agency’s examiners, appraisers and other frontline personnel that they had to collect at least P1.4 billion daily to meet their December revenue target.

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