THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) collected more than half of its revenues in September 2022 as of the first three weeks of this month as it highlighted its initiatives to curb smuggling.
From Sept. 1 to 19, the BOC said it collected P47.2 billion – about 60 percent higher than the P79.5 billion it collected in the same month last year.
BOC commissioner Bienvenido Rubio presented the bureau’s revenue performance during a meeting with Finance secretary Benjamin Diokno on Thursday, Sept. 21.
During the meeting, Rubio also highlighted the BOC’s seizure and forfeiture of 42,180 sacks of rice worth P42 million pesos in Zamboanga City due to the absence of the required Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance (SPSIC).
The seized and forfeited sacks of rice were donated to the Department of Social Welfare and Development which then distributed it to beneficiaries in Zamboanga City and Tungawan, Zamboanga Sibugay in a ceremony led by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
In his speech, Marcos cited the BOC for its investigation and inspection of warehouses suspected of storing smuggled rice as he highlighted the Customs’ role in the campaign against illicit trade.
The Customs further reported the agency’s intensified anti-smuggling campaign, which resulted in 717 seizure operations and apprehensions, amounting to an estimated P31.55 billion.
These operations targeted counterfeit goods, agricultural products, and cigarettes and tobacco, it said.
The BOC, likewise, said its efforts resulted in 323.52 million liters of fuel marked from Sept. 9 to 15, bringing the year’s total to 13.39 billion liters of marked fuel, year-on-year increase of 274.63 million liters.
As of Sept. 14, the Customs reported P749.53 billion worth of marked fuel.
Republic Act (RA) No. 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law authorized the fuel marking program in a bid to curb smuggling after the law raised the excise tax rate on fuel products.
Rubio, in his report, also cited the collaborative efforts between the BOC and the Royal Malaysian Customs to curb the illicit flow of cigarettes between the Philippines and Malaysia.
Both customs administrations agreed to develop concept papers for a joint operation under the ASEAN Customs Enforcement and Compliance Working Group (CECWG), according to the BOC.
The initiative aims to bolster cooperation in monitoring and combating the illicit cigarette trade. (GMA Integrated News)
