Despite the halt on rice imports to the country, the Bureau of Customs (BOC)’s revenue collection remained unfazed, earning over P80 billion for the month of September.
Customs Assistant Commissioner Vincent Maronilla said that preliminary revenue data from the BOC indicated an increase of nearly eight percent in collections compared to the same month last year.
‘Our September was very challenging, and we are shocked by the decline in volume. Well, for the last day we are up by 7.73 percent,’ he told reporters. ‘The highest margin year-over-year for the entire 2025.’
In September 2024, the BOC collected P76.28 billion. This means that the BOC collected P82.18 billion for the month of September this year, reflecting an increase in revenue despite challenges brought by the importation halt.
‘We’re struggling because the volume has been down since late last week. And really, we’re a little bit struggling in that particular area. But the rate of assessment is up, and collections year over year are up. So, maybe we’re looking at just certain adjustments,’ Maronilla said.
For the nine-month period, the BOC has collected around P703.57 billion. This is still higher by nearly two percent from January to September last year, which only stood at P690.68 billion in revenue collection.
In terms of revenue leakage due to smuggling, Maronilla said it is hard to estimate because they cannot tell how many are being smuggled out of the country.
‘But given the relative closeness of our collection and our target despite the really substantial reduction in volume, I think it’s not that high. (It) could be, in terms of certain items in the southern part of the Philippines,’ he said.
The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee reduced the BOC’s revenue target for this year to P990 billion from P1.06 trillion, citing lower tariffs and anticipated sluggish import growth.
Department of Finance Secretary Ralph Recto earlier mentioned that the BOC is expected to fall short of its 2025 revenue target by around P100 billion.