THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) office in Cebu collected P1.71 billion in revenues last month, exceeding its P1.68-billion target and registering a P26.7-million surplus for July this year.
Lawyer Rico Rey Francis Holganza, OIC customs district collector, said this can be attributed mainly to the huge number of imported power sector and oil products coming through the Cebu Port.
“We should realize that the (Bureau of) Customs is relying on importations made by our businessmen. If there aren’t any, we have no income,” he told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview on Monday.
Holganza said that last Friday alone, the last working day of July, an importer from the power sector paid P98 million in duties and taxes.
Furthermore, he added that BOC personnel in Cebu are in constant communication with their stakeholders.
He said they have regular meetings with brokers and importers to remind them to file their entries as soon as their shipments arrive in Cebu.
This was the third time the Cebu Port exceeded monthly collections since January this year, said Holganza.
Exceeded targets
The Cebu Port exceeded its targets in January, June, and July, he added.
Around P1.583 billion in revenue was collected last June, exceeding the P1.570 billion target and registering P13 billion in excess for the month.
In January, the district collected P1.96 billion in revenues, exceeding its P1.56 billion target and registering an excess of P389.7 million in excess.
Holganza said China remains to be the largest source of imports in Cebu.
The Cebu Port targets to collect P19.4 billion in duties and taxes for 2016 and has already collected P10.5 billion as of the end of July this year.
Imports up
The Philippines Statistics Authority earlier reported a 29.2 percent growth in imports in April this year compared to the same period last year.
This was attributed to double-digit growth in capital goods, raw materials, and consumer goods, which the National Economic and Development Authority said is an indicator of a strong economic performance in the second quarter.
Furthermore, NEDA said that this upward trend is expected to continue for the rest of the year given the new administration’s vow to increase infrastructure spending.
The demand for capital goods can also expect a boost with the renewed focus of the administration on the manufacturing sector.
Holganza said that whether importation volumes rise or fall, they would just maximize on what they can collect.