The Bureau of Customs said Wednesday it collected P74.861 billion in duties and taxes in June, exceeding by P140 million its assigned target of 74.721 billion for the month.
Its June collection, based on the report from the Bureau of Treasury, brought the total in the first half to P434.169 billion, up by P13.505 billion or 3.21 percent from the P420.66-billion assigned revenue target.
The figure also reflected a P37.434-billion growth compared to the previous year.
It said it achieved the revenue growth despite the challenges in importation volume, which fell 2.8 percent this year on high-value commodities.
The BOC said while the volume of oil increased by 9.9 percent this year from 2022, the revenue from said commodity declined because of the decreasing value of oil in the world market from $1.1 per liter in June 2022 to just $ 0.63 per liter this month.
BOC Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio said the agency’s unrelenting drive against smuggling of all forms significantly contributed to its collection performance.
The anti-smuggling efforts resulted in the seizure of shipments with aggregate estimated value of P23.8 billion this year.
It said P15.54 billion came from seizures of counterfeit goods, P2.90 billion from confiscation of agricultural products and P1.85 billion from cigarettes/tobacco, among others.
The BOC said that aside from exceeding its monthly collection targets, it posed a record-breaking daily collection of P7.510 billion on April 28, 2023.
Rubio thanked the employees of the bureau for their unwavering dedication and hard work that led to the remarkable achievement.
He encouraged all Customs offices and collection districts to maintain the exceptional performance throughout the year by utilizing its modernization programs and enhanced reform initiatives aligned with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s 8-point Socioeconomic Program.
