MANILA: The Bureau of Customs (BOC), government’s second largest tax agency, will reshuffle its key personnel in January in a bid to enhance performance in the remaining months of the Aquino administration.
Customs Commissioner Alberto D. Lina said the Department of Finance (DOF) wanted to finish the year first before it proceeds with the fresh round of reshuffle in the bureau.
But Lina admitted that the planned reshuffle must be implemented before election ban on new appointments takes effect next year.
“It’s logical to finish the year first before we proceed with any reshuffle so that the accomplishments could be defined,” Lina told reporters. “It’s hard to work if you would be reshuffled every sixth-month.”
“Because of this reshuffle, we have to work hard till December 31 because the basis of reassignment would be our performance this year,” he added.
Earlier, Lina said Customs personnel at the forefront of collections could find themselves reassigned following the agency’s well below revenue take in the first 11 months of the year.
The customs chief also disclosed that he has already submitted a list of recommendation to the DOF, and now under review by Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima.
Earlier, Customs reported that the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and traffic congestion within the ports’ perimeters have dragged down revenue collection last November.
Customs said that November collection reached P29.1 billion, lower by 27 percent compared with the P40 billion target for the month.
Likewise, Customs said that last month’s total tax take is lower by 6.9 percent than P31.2 billion in the same month last year.
“Despite expediting customs services several weeks before the APEC meetings, limited port activity had severely affected revenues,” Customs said.
“Truck bans, road closures and traffic rerouting schemes within the ports’ perimeters further pulled down the daily average collection from P2 billion to as low as P50 million,” the agency added.
