NINE out of 17 collection districts in ports nationwide hit their revenue targets in 2019, though the three largest ports missed their goals, the Bureau of Customs (BoC) said.

In a statement Wednesday, BoC said the Manila International Container Port (MICP) was the top revenue generator at P164.404 billion, followed by Port of Batangas (P152.222 billion) and Port of Manila (P74.812-billion), though they fell short of their collection goals last year.

The nine collection districts that hit their 2019 revenue targets were Port of Limay with P56.332 billion, Port of Cagayan de Oro P34.540 billion, Port of Subic P32.373 billion, Port of San Fernando P4.237 billion, Port of Iloilo P3.406 billion, Port of Tacloban P1.425 billion, Port of Zamboanga P545 million, Port of Legaspi P510.26 million, and Port of Aparri P146.72 million.

The five other ports that did not reach their revenue targets were the Customs station at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Port of Cebu, Port of Davao, Port of Clark and Port of Surigao. They collected P43.238 billion, P31.274 billion, P27.986 billion, P1.940 billion, and P19.43 million, respectively.

In total, the Customs bureau, the second-largest tax-collecting agency, generated P630.57 billion in revenue last year, up 6.32% year-on-year but nearly 5% short of its P661-billion target.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the biggest tax-collecting agency, also missed its P2.33-trillion revenue target after collecting P2.172 trillion in 2019, which is nonetheless 10.67% higher than its revenue in 2018.

The two major revenue-generating agencies collected a total of P2.8 trillion in 2019.

This year, BoC is tasked to collect P731.235 billion while BIR has a collection target of P2.576 trillion, both over 10% higher compared to their respective targets in 2019.

The Development Budget Coordination Committee earlier tasked the two agencies to collect a total of P3.3 trillion this year, 17.85% higher than last year’s combined goal. — Beatrice M. Laforga

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