DURING the Department of Finance's (DOF) Executive Committee meeting with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio provided a comprehensive update on the bureau's accomplishments and ongoing initiatives across the agency's various operational areas.

The preliminary report shows the BOC collected P330.27 billion between January and May 13, 2024, exceeding its target of P317.87 billion by 3.90%, or P12.41 billion. This figure represents a 7.00% increase from the same period last year when P308.65 billion was collected.

The Commissioner also presented its first-quarter report on the volume of imports, including oil and non-oil commodities. Additionally, the BOC provided updates to the DOG in the Philippines Customs Modernization Project (PCMP), detailing its meetings with the World Bank, the next steps for the initiative, as well as the progress on VAT refund applications.

Through the BOC’s enhanced border protection, 132 apprehensions were conducted in the first quarter, resulting in seizures worth approximately PhP28.02 billion. 

These seizures included general merchandise, counterfeit goods, cigarettes/tobacco, and various illegal drugs uncovered at different ports. Meanwhile, under the fuel marking program, a total of 7.01 billion liters of fuel were marked for the current calendar year and fuel worth PhP908.52 billion marked from 2019 to May 9, 2024.