SBMA remits P6.6B to government

MANILA, Philippines - The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has remitted P6.68 billion to the National Government last year, the highest since 1984.

In a statement, SBMA administrator Armand C. Arreza said combined cash collections by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) allowed the Subic Bay Freeport Zone to remit P6.68 billion to the National Treasury last year.

Arreza said revenue collection in 2010 topped the 2009 record by 19.25 percent or P1.08 billion. Collections last year also topped Subic’s 16-year revenue collection record as well.

“For the year 2010, both collection agencies pegged their goal at a total of P6.14 billion and performance-wise they surpassed it by 8.72 percent, or a total of P535.5 million,” Arreza said.

Arreza added that from January to December 2010, the BOC posted cash collections worth P4.97 billion, thus exceeding the 2009 record of P4.67 billion by 6.5 percent. In November last year, the BOC also posted the highest monthly collection ever made in the free port: a total of P501.6 million. This was 52.7 percent more than the P328 million posted the previous year.

On the other hand, the Subic revenue district posted collections worth P1.71 billion last year, a performance that also made it the district’s all-time high, as it recorded a 15.73 percent surplus over its goal of P1.47 billion.

According to SBMA records, BOC cash collections were derived from duties and taxes paid for ship calls, transshipment operations, and the importation of various inputs, including oil, motor vehicles and other general merchandise.

BOC officials, meanwhile, attributed the increase in Subic revenue collections to the Enhanced Automated Cargo Transfer System (e-ACTS), which ensures fast, safe, synchronized and secure cargo transit between Subic and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), as well as the Port of Manila and the International Container Port Terminal. Introduced in mid-September 2010 as an electronic protocol in lieu of face-to-face transactions, the e-ACTS not only boosted Subic’s campaign against smuggling and diversion of cargo, but also enhanced the collection of proper customs duties and other revenues.

 Arreza also noted that even as a new tax collection scheme implemented last year allowed the SBMA to collect part of the five percent corporate tax paid by Subic-registered investors, “the BIR still managed to increase its collection performance in Subic.”

“This only means that we are successful in widening our tax base in Subic, as we take in more investments and create more jobs,” Arreza added.