The Bureau of Customs, the government's second largest tax agency, is confident in meeting its full-year collection target owing to enhanced efficiency.

Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Y. Rubio expressed confidence in the attainability of raising at least P60.55 billion in December to meet the bureau’s P874.2 billion target for this year.

Rubio added that there is also a strong likelihood that the goal of P60.55 billion for this month will be surpassed.

Originally tasked to collect P78 billion in the final month of the year, the bureau has revised its December target downward following better-than-expected collections in the first 11 months.

From January and November, Customs amassed P813.651 billion, surpassing its P795.97 billion target for the period by 2.2 percent.

“We see every month we are recording surpluses, except for that one month that we were short, but we were able to recover,” Rubio said.

At end-November, Customs’ collection had reached approximately 93 percent of its full-year target.

"What I can promise is I'll meet the target and give them a surplus," Rubio said.

In November alone, Customs surpassed its target of P74.25 billion by 1.5 percent, achieving a collection of P75.34 billion.

Rubio credited the increase to improved tax collection efficiency.

"When we talk about volume, it's not increasing. The increase is more due to the efficiency of tax collection. Now, we are making significant progress in assessing the incoming goods," he stated.

"In the past, certain commodities arrived and we might not have observed the specifics. Now, based on inspections and examinations, we are able to discern the actual content," Rubio added.

Meanwhile, Rubio said that the lower oil and coal prices impacted Customs revenue collection performance.

He explained that the volume of imports have dropped as well as the prices per unit of the various imported commodities.

The Development Budget Coordination Committee initially projected fuel prices to be around $90, but actual prices currently range between $68 and $70.

Similarly, the Philippine peso-dollar exchange rate was expected to be as high as P59, but it is now around P55.

Rubio said the impact on Customs is due to the basis of its collection in foreign currency, which reflects the value of goods.

He also said the substantial drop in fuel prices has greatly affected collection performance.

Additionally, Rubio cited the significant decrease in coal prices this year.

He estimated that their potential revenue loss due to the drop in coal prices alone amounts to approximately P45 billion, assuming that the import volume remains constant.