EXCEEDING GOALS. Lawyer Marlon Agaceta, chief of staff of Bureau of Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio, says the agency is expected to exceed its 2023 collections goals during the Saturday New Forum (Dec. 9) in Quezon City. Agaceta likewise said that employees who worked at the BOC in 2018 will receive PHP1 billion in cash reward for outstanding collection performance, based on their salary grades and duties. (PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler)
MANILA – The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is expected to exceed its collection goals for 2023, an agency official said Saturday.
“The BOC is optimistic that it will reach its collection goals for 2023 after logging a surplus of PHP17.68 billion in revenues as of November,” lawyer Marlon Agaceta, chief of staff of Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio, said during the Saturday News Forum.
From January to November, the BOC has already collected PHP813.65 billion.
The BOC set its 2023 target from at least PHP900 billion to as much as PHP1 trillion.
“Values are being strictly monitored, thus the increase in revenue collection despite lower volume of goods. Iyon po iyong talagang naging factor to consider or factor na nag-contribute for the bureau to attain the target now (That is really the factor that contributed to the bureau’s attainment of its target now),” Agaceta said.
“And of course, with the intensified anti-smuggling drive, nagiging more compliant po iyong mga importers natin (our importers are becoming more compliant),” he added.
As of Nov. 30, Agaceta said the BOC confiscated PHP42.4 billion worth of smuggled commodities as part of its strengthened border protection and anti-smuggling efforts.
Among the agency’s top-seized commodities this year were PHP24.3 billion worth of counterfeit goods, PHP7.58 billion worth of illegal drugs, PHP4.55 billion worth of agricultural products and tobacco, and PHP964 million worth of general merchandise.
BOC achieved its highest annual revenue collection in 2022 after collecting a total of PHPP862.929 billion, way above its PHP721.52 billion goal or a 19.6-percent surplus equivalent to PHP141.409 billion.
P1-B cash reward for 2018 performance
In the same forum, Agaceta said at least 3,000 employees who worked at the BOC in 2018 are set to receive a total of PHP1 billion in cash reward.
The reward was based on the agency’s 2018 revenue performance, where it reached PHP9.1 billion in excess cash collection.
The BOC surpassed its target of PHP576 billion in 2018 after hitting PHP585.45 billion in cash collection.
“With the continued follow-ups being made by Commissioner Rubio in an attempt to improve the morale of the employees and further encourage them to perform well, na-approve na po iyong reward for 2018 (the reward for 2018 has been approved),” Agaceta said.
Under Republic Act No. 9335 or the Attrition Act of 2005, BOC employees are entitled to individual rewards when the agency breaches its revenue targets.
The law, which also applies to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, imposes sanctions on those who fall short of their collection targets.
Agaceta said the computation would be based on the employee’s salary grade and actual duties in 2018.
“Inaasahan na sana by the end of the year [maibigay] (We hope that we could distribute it by the end of the year),” he said.
The executive said at least PHP341 million in rewards and incentives would also be given to BOC units. (PNA)
