MANILA: The Bureau of Customs might have difficulties in reaching its P406-billion revenue target for 2016, Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faledon said on Monday.
Faeldon explained that the BOC cannot sacrifice its other mandates of border security and trade facilitation to pursue revenue targets. “In the past 30 years -20 years -there is only one year that the bureau has hit the target. Okay? We should understand that,” he said in a press briefing in Malacañang.
“So, this year, is not an ordinary year. It’s a normal year for the BOC, meaning it’s behind the target. Now, in the first semester, two quarters, it’s how many percent below the target and then we are picking up in this month. So, hoping we can recover up to December,” he said. “But if that’s the direction of the correction, we are improving in this month but in July it’s very low, as low as the other months of the year,” he said. Meanwhile, Faeldon said, the BOC has investigated the case of a member of the Customs police for allegedly getting payoffs from certain individuals who have dealings with the agency.
“We have also have a strong case against one of our employees, the name is Customs Police Captain Arnel Baylosis. Four individuals who have direct transactions with him testified through affidavit that previously — Since 2012, they have been giving bribe money,” he said. He said the bribe, called ‘tara’ among Customs insiders, ranged from P100 million to P220 million a month. He said that his office has referred the Baylosis case to the Department of Justice for investigation. “That’s so far as our effort to curb corruption in the bureau is concerned. We now have a very strong case against this individual,” he said.
