Customs collection up 11% in August

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs failed to hit its collection goal for August as the worsening congestion at the country’s major ports took a toll on the agency’s performance.

While revenue collection was up 11 percent to P29 billion last month, it was 13.3 percent below the official target for the month.

The bottleneck at Manila’s ports resulted in a substantial drop in revenue collections. The expanded truck ban implemented by the Manila City government was the primary cause for the port congestion and the slowdown in the movement of goods in and out of the ports.

The controversial truck ban implemented in Manila was recently lifted.

The Port of Manila generated only P4.5 billion in revenues or well below the P7-billion goal while the Manila Internal Container Port also missed its P9.5-billion target as collections reached only P8 billion.

On the other hand, collections of the Port of Batangas jumped 42 percent in August to P7.2 billion, exceeding its P6.1-billion target as importers diverted their shipments there to avoid congestion at Manila’s ports.

The ports of Iloilo, Subic, Aparri and Davao also surpassed their monthly targets.

From January to August this year, Customs collected P232.92 billion, 17 percent higher than the same period last year.

 Delays in the cargo deliveries affected prices of agricultural products, resulting in abrupt price increases.