THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) saw its revenue collections decline in October, dragged down by lower import volumes and falling global oil prices, with the extended rice import ban threatening its ability to meet its full-year target.
Preliminary data from the BOC showed its revenue collections dropped by 4.1 percent to P83.322 billion in October 2025 from P86.885 billion during the same month a year ago.
Two key external factors-the ‘notable’ reduction in import volumes and the declining global oil prices-led to the reduction in the BOC’s revenue collections during the month.
‘These factors have significantly constrained the BOC’s ability to generate revenue, underscoring the broader economic headwinds affecting trade and commodity markets,’ the agency said.
Month-on-month, the BOC’s collection went up by 3.78 percent from the P80.284 billion posted in September 2025.
‘The reconfiguration of global chains due to Trump’s tariffs has made the country’s exports less competitive,’ Leonardo A. Lanzona, economist at Ateneo de Manila University, told the BusinessMirror.
The national government is expecting the country’s goods exports to contract by 2 percent this year due to slower global demand and heightened trade policy uncertainties.
A 19-percent tariff rate was slapped on the country’s exports entering America, with one concession was for the Philippines to remove duties on US goods entering the domestic market.
‘Even if we experience continued depreciation, the huge tariffs imposed on our exports have diverted trade to other countries, leaving us wanting,’ Lanzona said.
The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee has set the BOC’s revenue collection target to P958.714 billion this year, higher by 2.02 percent than last year’s goal of P939.694 billion.
Lanzona said the DBCC should adjust the targets set for the BOC, and all other macroeconomic and fiscal targets, as ‘there seems to be no reason we can meet our targets.’
‘The DBCC should realize the repercussions of the low export volumes. This ultimately weakens the manufacturing sector and raises unemployment,’ Lanzona added.
The DBCC reviews and approves the macroeconomic targets, revenue projections, borrowing level, aggregate budget level, and expenditure priorities of the country.
Meanwhile, John Paolo R. Rivera, senior research fellow at state-run Philippine Institute for Development Studies, told the BusinessMirror that the BOC’s full-year collection might end slightly below target.
‘The extended rice import ban limits another significant source of customs revenue and may make it harder for the BOC to fully meet its target,’ Rivera said.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has approved extending the rice import ban until the end of 2025, in a bid to arrest the slide in farmgate prices of palay. (See: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2025/11/03/marcos-extends-rice-ban-till-end-25-to-halt-farmgate-dip/).
The BOC said earlier that the prolonged temporary import ban on rice will have only a minimal impact on the government’s tariff take.
Customs Assistant Commissioner Vincent Philip C. Maronilla said the BOC will put in additional work to search for other sources of revenue to cover any deficiencies in its collections caused by the rice import ban.
Still, Rivera said the BOC’s full-year outcome will depend on holiday-season import demand, oil price trends and foreign exchange movements.
He noted that if these factors remain subdued, the BOC may fall slightly short of its target.
Although better collection efficiency and faster post-disaster reconstruction imports could still narrow the gap, Rivera added.