BOC collection up by 17 percent

CEBU, Philippines -  The revenue for the Bureau of Customs nationwide for eight months has reached P232.92 billion, which is up by 17 percent as compared to the same period last year.

In a statement, BOC, which is composed of 17 ports, was able to collect P199.17 billion from January to August of 2013.

For the month of August alone, BOC’s revenues reached P29 billion, an 11 percent increase over the P26.08 billion collection in the same month last year.  For September 2014, BOC aims to collect P34.56 billion by the Inter-Agency Development Budget Coordination Committee.

However, BOC-Cebu was short by P13.9 million in its P1 billion target collection for the month of August reportedly due to the several holidays.

“Wa mi naka-meet sa among target for August kay daghan og holidays. Naay uban nga mga importers nga wa na nakaapas og bayad unya this month na sila nakabayad,” said Conrado Abarintos, BOC-Cebu chief of Cash Division.

Abarintos said though that he optimistic that they will exceed their target collection collection of P1 billion for this month.

“I am sure medyo daku ang surplus this month kay ang bayad unta for August, maapil man sa collection for September,” said Abarintos, who is also the acting chief of Assessment Division.

But on a positive note, BOC-Cebu posted a revenue surplus of P3 million as it was able to collect P8.6 billion against its target collection of P8.3 billion from January to August this year.

For BOC-Cebu, the construction sector contributes a huge part of their revenue collection due to rehabilitation projects for typhoon-damaged areas.   Aside from the construction materials, Abarintos said that finished petroleum products and coal importation in Cebu have also contributed to their revenue collection efforts. BOC-Cebu has a target collection of P12 billion for the entire 2014.  (FREEMAN)