The Bureau of Customs district office in Tacloban City. (PNA Tacloban file photo)
TACLOBAN CITY -- The Bureau of Customs (BoC) district office here surpassed their collection goals for the first quarter of 2018, raising optimism about exceeding its annual target within the first half of the year.
BoC-Eastern Visayas acting district collector Jose Naig said in an interview Friday that the three ports in the region under their watch generated PHP181.13 million from January to March. The amount represents 68 percent of the PHP267 million target collection for the entire year.
The field office generated an excess of PHP121 million from the PHP60 million goal for the first three months of the year. The BoC district office covers the ports of Tacloban, Isabel in Leyte, and Catbalogan City in Samar.
Of the total earnings, PHP32.12 million were collected in January, PHP80.68 million in February, and PHP68.32 million in March.
The remarkable ports collection in the early part of the year can be attributed to the increased volume of importation of liquefied petroleum gas, the operation of the Seaoil depot, and cement shipment in Tacloban and Catbalogan, said Naig.
The sub-port of Isabel has been consistently earning high collections from ores, slag, ash, inorganic chemicals, organic and inorganic compounds of precious metals, and others. These are raw materials requirements of the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation and the Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corporation.
“We are now close to achieving the target collection for 2018, but we will not be complacent as we need to attain and surpass our monthly target collection,” Naig added.
For the three remaining quarters of the year, the BoC is eyeing to generate PHP207 million or an average of PHP23 million every month.
Nationwide, the BoC eyes the collection of PHP598 billion in 2018 or PHP139 billion higher than the PHP468 billion actual earning last year. (PNA)
