E. Visayas Customs 50% short of target

TACLOBAN CITY—Customs collectors in Eastern Visayas have gone way off their mark in their target revenue figures for 2011, falling short by at least 50 percent.

Avelino Alberca, regional Customs collector, said on Friday that the regional Customs collection was just P219.03 million, way below a target of P470 million.

Alberca laid the blame on poor collection at the Isabel port in Leyte where 85 to 90 percent of the region’s entire collection comes from.

Shipments from and to the region’s only economic zone, the Leyte Industrial Development Estate, pass through the Isabel port.

Companies operating at the ecozone include the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. (Pasar) and the Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corp.

In 2011, Customs officials at the Isabel port collected only P145.28 million, 67 percent below a target of P439.27 million.

Alberca said among the reasons for the lower revenue is a decline in demand for copper cathode, which Pasar manufactures.

Last year, only 180 metric tons of copper cathode were exported, way below 460 MT exported in 2010.

Pasar accounts for more than 75 percent of the entire collection of Isabel, Alberca said. Last year, Pasar paid P106 million in customs duties.

While the Isabel port did not meet its collection target, the Tacloban port surpassed its collection target by 132 percent, Alberca said.

The Tacloban port, which derives its earnings from foreign parcels and liquefied petroleum gas dues, generated an income of P73.45 million, higher than its target of P31.68 million.

The Catbalogan port, however, collected only P37,000 in duties.

Alberca expressed fears revenue collection would drop further after Pasar suspended operations following a fire in its facility. Pasar employs at least 1,000 workers.