‘Jitters’ caused lower than expected Customs collection

Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon: Jitters. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Blame it on a case of “nerves.”

Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon on Monday said the “jitters caused by swift changes at the agency had affected our collections,” resulting in the bureau’s failure to meet its P30.5-billion collection target for October.

In a statement, Biazon said that “October is usually the month when importations surge due to the holiday demand… But as the situation stabilizes, we are optimistic our revenue growth (this month and in December) will rebound to double-digit levels.”

He said that “despite the personnel changes that have occurred of late, we managed to keep our collections on the positive level.”

The Bureau of Customs has undergone a drastic revamp.

In September, Malacañang appointed new deputy commissioners in the persons of Agaton Uvero, Primo Aguas, Ma. Edita Tan, Myrna Chua and former AFP chief of staff Jessie Dellosa.

Then under the Customs Reform Project, 27 top bureau officials, including 17 district collectors, were moved from their posts to the newly created Customs Policy Research Office at the Department of Finance head office. This caused controversy when some collectors sued the BOC to remain at their posts. Eventually all the collectors vacated their posts, with some of them opting for early retirement.

Bureau collections for October totaled P28.3 billion, a little over P2 billion short of its target for the month. Still, this was P1.4 billion more than the P26.9 billion it collected in the same period in 2012.

From January to October this year, total bureau collections were more than P252 billion, still P87 billion short of the annual target of P340 billion.

However, Biazon said, six of the bureau’s 17 collection districts—Subic Freeport, Clark International Airport and the ports of Cebu, Davao, Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro—were “on track” to meet their 2013 targets.