BOC chief cites 3 ports for topping collections
IN a record-breaking in terms of revenue collections, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) commissioner lauded three ports, including Port of Limay, Bataan, for topping the lists in terms of actual revenue collections this year.
In his “First 100 days” official report in BOC, Commissioner Yogi Filemon L. Ruiz said that the Port of Limay under Atty William B. Balayo, District Collector, Port of Batangas, and the Manila International Container Port have remitted combined collections of P432, 113 billion, accounting for 60.49 % of the overall total revenue of P713.552 billion from January to October 30, collected from January 1 to October 31, 2022.
In fact, the Port of Limay, Bataan, under the leadership of District Collector Balayo and his Sub-port collector of Mariveles, a young but “bright” lawyer Niño Kjell Servañes, records showed, has contributed a huge amount of money amounting to the P432 billion revenue collection by the three top ports, as it was able always to surpass its collection target set by the Department of Finance (DOF) for 18 consecutive months.
For his part, Balayo, who is also a lawyer and certified public accountant (CPA), cited the collectible efforts and initiatives of his personnel, more so with his Sub-port collector Atty. Servañes, in the successful revenue collections, that their offices had collected.
“Of course, I myself cannot do it alone without the support of our personnel,” pointed out Balayo in an impromptu interview with this writer.
It was also during the stint of Balayo and Servañes that four smugglers were convicted, considered a “success” in the BOC’s fight against smugglers, that the previous collectors failed to accomplish.
Records showed the Presiding Judge of the 3rd Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC) of Orion-Pilar, Bataan convicted four individuals on Sept. 9 who were found transporting smuggled rice in Orion, Bataan.
On Feb. 24, 2021, the vessel “LCT Yellow River” was apprehended by Balayo and his men after multiple trucks were found discharging and loading smuggled rice and cigarettes off Orion waters in Bataan.
Balayo and Servañes expressed optimism that they can again surpass their collection target this month.
