The Bureau of Customs is top of mind for not a few Filipinos when queried about which government agencies they perceive to be among the most corrupt. Case in point: during a presidential debate televised live in February 2022, ALL nine candidates present save for one said top on their list of government agencies they would like to immediately cleanse of corrupt scalawags should they win the elections was the BoC. (Only Manny Pacquiao had a different answer – the “Department of Health”).
This regrettable reputation of the agency was foremost on the mind of Yogi Filemon Ruiz when he was named head of the Bureau of Customs by the new President, Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., on 20 July 2022.
Ruiz is not a stranger to the agency; he is familiar with the turf he now oversees, having been director of the BoC’s Enforcement & Security Service for nearly half a decade before his designation as Customs chief.
As ESS director, Ruiz was on top of enforcement operations against drug smuggling within the BoC. Moreover, he had also been the director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in various regions for seven years.
His experience in enforcement activities was undoubtedly not lost on the President when the latter chose him to head Customs.
Cleansing the agency of corruption and increasing revenue collections, along with zero tolerance for smuggling and the full digitalization of Customs processes, are among the priority programs Ruiz set out for himself upon assuming his new post.
Reforming the image of the Bureau is what’s propelling him the most to push the agency to perform above and beyond expectations. The intensification of the BoC’s drive against smuggling, coupled with the implementation of projects geared toward curbing corruption, have all contributed to the agency’s stellar performance in 2022.
Ruiz’s overall efforts have certainly paid off. Eleven months into the year, the BoC was able to surpass its whole-year revenue collection target of P721.52 billion after generating, by close to mid-November, revenue totaling P745.50 billion, or 3.27 percent above the target.
Last year, total collections earned by the BoC came to P862.929 billion, far exceeding its P721.52 billion collection target by 19.6 percent. The figure was also an astounding 34.09 percent over the BoC’s 2021 total revenue.
Reports submitted by the BoC’s 17 collection districts reveal an impressive fact. For the first time in the agency’s history, these districts met their collection targets, reaping a 17-percent surplus or P141.409 billion by yearend.
In Northern Luzon, for instance, the Port of San Fernando, along with three sub-ports, namely, Sual, Baguio, and Salomague, and with the main Port within the Poro Point Freeport Zone, collected between January to December 2022 a total of P11.668 billion, which was 42.4 percent above the Port’s revenue collection target of P8.195 billion for the year.
One of the country’s busiest international ports of entry, the Port of Manila, reported total collections for the same period – January to December 2022 – that amounted to a whopping P78.091 billion. That figure is 15.5 percent or P10.478 billion more than the set 2022 target of P67.613 billion.
The collection district at the country’s leading domestic and international gateway for travelers and air cargo, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, generated, for the same period, total collections of P40.935 billion, which was 19.6 percent or P6.708 billion more than NAIA’s collection target of P34.227 billion.
Among BoC’s primary top earners is the Port of Batangas. The Port includes sub-ports in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, and Siain, Quezon. Such sub-ports facilitate cargo for clearance processing zones, the LIMA Technology Center, and the First Philippine Industrial Park. Last year, the Batangas port brought in a massive P204.242 billion in total collections from January to December. The amount was 19.5 percent or P33.353 billion over the Port’s yearend target of P170.889 billion.
Meanwhile, the Port of Legazpi, with sub-ports in Tabaco and Jose Panganiban, located in the eastern part of Albay province, collected a total of P634 million. The amount exceeds the yearend collection target of P375 million, an excess of 69 percent or P259 million. The Port caters to bulk and break bulk import and export shipments.
Over in Western Visayas is the Port of Iloilo, one of the country’s main ports of entry, which has long been serving international trade and commerce in Panay Island and the Western Visayas region. Besides the main collection district office in Iloilo City, the Port comprises a satellite office at BREDCO port in Bacolod City, the provincial capital of Negros Occidental, the Pulupandan sub-port, and ad-hoc offices at Kalibo International Airport and Iloilo International Airport. The total collection for the same period (January to December) was P5.02 billion, 57.5 percent or P1.832 billion above the yearend target of P3.187 set by the Port.
A significant collection district that contributes substantially to the economy of the Northern Mindanao region is the Port of Cagayan de Oro, along with sub-ports in the cities of Iligan and Ozamiz and the Mindanao Container Terminal port. Total collection by December 2022 reached P37.415 billion, surpassing the yearend collection target of P35.842 billion set by the Port by 4.4 percent or a surplus of P1.572 billion.
Having Customs jurisdiction over the entire Eastern Visayas region is the Port of Tacloban. Last year, the Port collected a total of P5.546 billion against the targeted P5.214 billion set by the Port for 2022. The amount was 6.4 percent or P332 million more than the Port’s collection target.
The Port of Cebu, along with its sub-ports in Mactan Island, Dumaguete in Negros Oriental, and the Bohol-Panglao International Airport, generated collections totaling P42.872 billion within the January to December period, surpassing the Port’s targeted yearend collection set at P37.843 billion by 13.3 percent or more than P5.029 billion.
Meanwhile, the BoC’s collection district in Zamboanga — covering the provinces of Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga Sibugay, with four sub-ports located in Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, and Zamboanga International Airport and satellite offices in Dipolog City and the Zamboanga Freeport Zone — collected a total of P10.746 billion by the end of December, or 4.7 percent above the P10.259 billion target it had set for the year.
Another major BoC collection district is the Port of Davao, which covers Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur, and South Cotabato in Region XI and Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, and North Cotabato in Region XII; and the cities of Davao, General Santos, and Cotabato. The main Port is in Davao City, with sub-ports in Mati, Davao Oriental; Dadiangas, General Santos City; and South Cotabato and Parang in Maguindanao. Altogether, total collections made by the Port from January to December last year came to P43.619 billion, surpassing by 8.6 percent the yearend target of P40.172 billion set by the Port for 2022.
The Port of Subic, meanwhile, consisting of the former Subic Special Economic Freeport Zone, which encompasses Olongapo City, Subic town, and Zambales within the territorial jurisdiction of Morong and Hermosa, Bataan province, posted P48.731 billion in collection earnings within the period January to December. The figure is 17.2 percent above the P41.579 billion collection target the Port set for the year.
For its part, the Port of Clark (Clark Air Base) reported total collections worth P3.644 billion for the same period of January to December, or 21.3 percent above the yearend target of P3.004 billion. Additional revenues from Clark International Airport Corp.’s Passenger Services Division amounted to P1.847 billion worth of smuggled goods as a result of apprehension.
In the northern tip of Northern Luzon is the Port of Aparri, under the BoC Port of San Fernando. Along with its sub-ports in Laoag, Currimao, Irene, Claveria, and Cagayan North International Airport, the Port covers the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Batanes, and Ilocos Norte. Within the same period, the Port generated total collections worth P1.4 billion or 15.3 percent above its targeted P1.215 billion for 2022 — the first time in 14 years of its existence as a district port that it breached P1 billion in collections.
Finally, the Port of Limay, which has jurisdiction over the entire province of Bataan except for territory covered by the SBMA (Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority), recorded revenue collection of P121.846 billion or P15.768 billion more than the P106.077 billion yearend collection target set by the Port.
For 2023, Ruiz said the BoC has set a collection target of P921 billion, which is 2 percent higher than the P901.3 billion set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee for the agency and 28 percent more than the previous year’s P721 billion collection goal.
If the BoC’s performance in 2022 under Ruiz’s watch is any indication, there is no doubt that the agency will once again clinch — nay, exceed — its goals by yearend 2023. ±DTHS