Friday, November 02, 2007 BOC collections fall short of target
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cebu’s collection for October was tentatively placed at P343 million, which is P77 million short of the P420-million target.
Florante Ricarte, assistant chief of assessment of the BOC Port of Cebu, said that total revenue collection is subject to review and final report on Monday.
The latest collection deficit has also erased the P32-million surplus collections for the period Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2007.
Chief of Assessment Carlos Corsiga said that low collections for October can be attributed to the drop in the volume of imports and depreciation of dollar, which is the basis in the computation of duties and taxes.
He said that Norkis Trading Corp., which used to import Yahama motorcycles and had paid about P25 million in duties and taxes every month in the past years, has stopped importing since last month.
Last month, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales, who came to Cebu to open seized container vans with smuggled vehicles and used clothing, said the Port of Cebu is one of the four ports in the country that met targets up to September.
Corsiga said several businessmen are not manufacturing export products anymore due to the drop in the value of the US dollar.
“We are now collating our data to identify who are those who stopped importing raw materials because of business slowdown,” Corsiga said.
Despite the October deficit, Corsiga said is optimistic that the Port of Cebu can meet the target when the National Food Authority and other government agencies will pay their obligations within the fourth quarter of the year. (EOB)
