The Bureau of Customs (BOC) admitted Tuesday it is struggling to meet its ₱958-billion revenue target for 2025 due to lower import volumes, valuation issues, and the impact of a new law banning the auction of seized smuggled agricultural products.
“Actually, adjusted na iyon… pababa. Kasi ₱1.64 trillion iyon at the start of the year,” BOC spokesperson Jet Maronilla said.
“We’ve hit the July target, but we’re a little bit struggling (during) the past few months. We’ve had issues on volume. We’re trying to correct some of our valuation also and some revenue-collecting efficiencies, practices ng aming mga tao,” he added.
As of October, import volumes remained weak, causing collections to reach ₱785 billion, or about 81% of the revised annual target.
Maronilla noted that collections this year are still slightly higher—by up to ₱6 billion—compared with last year, and expressed hope for recovery in November and December: “Medyo maganda kasi itong volume natin ngayong November. Hopefully, it can be sustained in December.”
The slower revenue was partly attributed to the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, which mandates the destruction rather than auction of smuggled agricultural goods.
“That’s why there’s a discussion right now to look into that particular issue,” Maronilla said.
The BOC continues to intensify coordination with law enforcement and enhance anti-smuggling systems despite tighter enforcement rules and reduced import activity.