THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) is aiming to consistently surpass its collection targets to help fund the economic goals of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
BOC assistant commissioner and spokesperson Vincent Philip Maronilla yesterday said the BOC hopes to achieve this goal through its intensified anti-smuggling that has provided positive results thus far.
“Tutuparin namin na abutin ang aming collection target. Hindi lang po aabutin kung hindi lalagpasan po natin kasi alam ni Commissioner (Bienvenido) Rubio na mahigpit po ang pangangailangan ng ating pamahalaan sa pagpondo,” he said.
The BOC has been outperforming its record from the previous year with more apprehensions since the start of the year.
Maronilla said that as of present, the bureau has intercepted more than P20 billion worth of smuggled goods, which included agricultural products and other products that are harmful to Philippine industries.
He said the bureau’s anti-smuggling campaign has also resulted in the interception of illegal drugs, the latest of which was the P55 million worth of shabu intercepted by the BOC-Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on June 5 at the NAIA Terminal 3.
Due to its intensified drive against smuggling, the BOC has recorded over P359 billion worth of collections for Jan. 1 to May 31, or 3.82 percent higher than its target collection of P345.943 billion.
This is also P38.661 billion or 12.06 percent higher than 2022’s collection for the same period. (PNA)/PN
