The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is on track to hit its historic ₱1 trillion collection target this year, with January to July collections already running ₱11.4 billion above the revised target and July alone posting a 12.5% growth rate compared to the same month last year, Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said Saturday.
Nepomuceno made the disclosure in an interview on DZRH News program Special on Saturday on August 8, as part of the DZRH SONA 2026 Series featuring the Department of Finance.
“Kung pagbubuhayin natin ‘yung buong collection namin ngayong January to July, lampas kami sa aming target ng ₱11.4 billion,” Nepomuceno said, noting that the bureau’s revised target was raised by ₱7 billion from its original figure, eating into what would have been a larger surplus.
He said the Bureau of Customs has been posting an average collection growth rate of around 8% under the Marcos administration, above the country’s GDP growth rate of 5.8%, which he described as evidence of improved collection efficiency under tighter enforcement and governance reforms.
Nepomuceno said the bureau is pursuing two overarching priorities simultaneously: strict enforcement against smuggling and misdeclaration, and good governance reforms that modernize the agency while maintaining focus on its primary mission of revenue collection.
“Malinaw na malinaw naman sa BOC ngayon na ang aming primary mission is to collect,” Nepomuceno said, citing a clear directive from President Marcos and Finance Secretary Frederick Go since he took over the bureau in July last year.
He said the crackdown on misdeclaration has been central to the revenue gains, with the bureau now requiring importers to declare goods accurately regardless of the duty implications, citing the infamous example of a Bugatti luxury vehicle that was previously declared as a pick-up truck to pay lower tariffs.
Nepomuceno said the BOC has filed 84 cases for customs violations, targeting not only low-level operatives but higher-level offenders responsible for customs fraud.
Finance Secretary Go confirmed that the BIR and BOC together have consistently delivered double-digit collection growth since 2022, with the BIR’s ₱3 trillion milestone and the BOC’s push toward ₱1 trillion representing the twin pillars of the Marcos administration’s revenue generation effort.
He said the sustained growth in revenue collection has been essential to funding the government’s programs in infrastructure, education, social welfare, and agriculture without compromising fiscal discipline.
