Higher collections from oil drove higher revenue for the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in September, bringing its total earnings to over ₱700 billion in the first nine months of the year despite the expected full-year shortfall.

BOC Assistant Commissioner Vincent Philip C. Maronilla told reporters on the sidelines of his luncheon meeting with the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) on Tuesday, Sept. 30, that preliminary data showed collections in September alone increased by 7.7 percent to ₱82.2 billion from ₱76.3 billion a year ago.

Maronilla claimed this was among the hauls with the highest margins as of the first nine months of 2025. Data showed this margin matched the 7.3-percent year-on-year growth in March, which rose to ₱80.4 billion from ₱74.9 billion a year earlier.

According to Maronilla, oil consistently accounts for approximately one-third and remains the primary driver of the agency’s growth, along with food, steel, and motor vehicles.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that January posted the highest annual growth of eight percent, climbing to ₱79.3 billion from ₱73.4 billion. In terms of value, September’s collections emerged as the second-largest haul in 2025, trailing behind July’s ₱85.2 billion.

Since January, Customs revenue has expanded by 1.9 percent to ₱703.6 billion from ₱690.7 billion in the same nine-month period in 2024.

It can be noted that the year-to-date collection is equivalent to 66.3 percent of the BOC’s full-year revenue target of ₱1.06 trillion.

Despite registering among the highest margins in 2025, Maronilla said that it was “very challenging” in September. “We’re suddenly down in volume. We’re down on our target, so I think that says a lot about the kind of volume we’ll be able to muster.”

The latest preliminary Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed that goods imports shrank 4.9 percent year-on-year to $10.6 billion in August.

Despite the drop last August, merchandise imports during the first eight months reached $88.1 billion, up 5.1 percent year-on-year and the second highest on record for the eight-month period.

Volume has dropped since the fourth week of September, Maronilla said, adding that the BOC is having some difficulty in the area. “But assessment rates are higher, and collections are up year-on-year, so we may just need to make a few adjustments.”

“If we can keep it at less than two percent, I think we have a pretty good chance of catching up by the end of the year,” he assured.

Meanwhile, Maronilla said that “if the measure of the leakage is not us not reaching the target,” it would be under one percent of its over ₱1-trillion target. As such, it would only reach around ₱8 billion, he said.

He argued against the possibility that revenue leakage could be inflated close to ₱80 billion.

It does not help that the ongoing 60-day rice import ban, which started on Sept. 1, would slash tariff collections from the Filipino staple food by below ₱20 billion, Maronilla said.

Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto earlier said revenue leakages from smuggling agricultural products are estimated at around ₱150 billion this 2025. This figure only covers losses incurred by the BOC.

Smuggled commodities include general merchandise and oil products, such as gasoline, diesel, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and other refined fuel products.