The Bureau of Customs (BOC) collected P630.47 billion revenue in 2019, achieving 95.4% of its target collection of P661.04 billion, based on the preliminary report of the BOC-Financial Service on Tuesday, February 11, 2020.

The BOC’s collection of P630.47-billion in 2019 posted a 6.3% growth or an increase of P37-billion compared to its 2018 revenue collection of P593-billion.

BOC data showed that nine out of the 17 Collection Districts have reached their annual revenue collection targets, namely: (1) Port of Limay with P56.332-billion revenue; (2) Port of Cagayan de Oro with P34.540-billion revenue; (3) Port of Subic with P32.373-billion revenue; (4) Port of San Fernando with P4.237-billion revenue; (5) Port of Iloilo with P3.406-billion revenue; (6) Port of Tacloban with P1.425-billion revenue; (7) Port of Zamboanga with P545-million revenue; (8) Port of Legaspi with P510.26-million revenue; and (9) Port of Aparri with P146.72-million revenue.

Although fell short of the target for 2019, the Manila International Container Port, Port of Batangas and Port of Manila collected the highest revenues with P164.404-billion, P152.222-billion and P74.812-billion, respectively.

Moreover, P43.238-billion was collected by the Port of NAIA; P31.274-billion in the Port of Cebu; P27.986-billion in the Port of Davao; P1.940-billion in the Port of Clark; and P19.43-million in the Port of Surigao.

The Bureau’s effort to institute systems innovation, such as the Goods Declaration Verification System (GDVS) and the National  Value Verification System (NVVS), also helped the agency sustain its collection in 2019.

During the celebration of the 118th founding anniversary of the Bureau of Customs, Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez of the Department of Finance lauded the BOC for its improved revenue collection required to make critical investments in quality infrastructure, healthcare, and education for the Filipino people.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero thanked the men and women of the Bureau of Customs, as well as its partner agencies, for their continued support and cooperation which allowed the BOC to achieve its targets and initiate programs geared towards improving efficiency and optimizing operations for better trade and collections./Stacy Ang