PASSAGE OF P2.6 BILLION 2021 BOC BUDGET ASSURED

THE Senate Finance Committee has assured support for the passage of the 2021 budget of the Bureau of Customs with Comm. Rey Leonardo Guerrero also earning praise from Sen. Imee Marcos.

During the committee’s discussion of the proposed budget of the Department of Finance (DOF) and its attached agencies last Wednesday, September 23, 2020, the DOF presented a total budget of P16.02 billion, which is 13.7 percent lower than the P18.55 billion it requested this year.

Accordingly, the following agencies of the DOF requested for the following:

Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), P9.934 billion, up by 15.9 percent from its current appropriation of P8.752 billion; BOC, P2.580 billion, higher by 5.4 percent from its current budget of P2.448 billion; Bureau of Treasury (BtR), P2.159 billion, 55 percent below its present appropriation of P4.771 billion;

Office of the Secretary, P832.641 million, one half percent lower than its present budget of P836.607 million; Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF), P341.736 million, 31.7 percent higher than its present budget of P259.482 million; Privatization Management Office (PMO), P82.172 million or 0.8 percent lower than its present budget of P81.540 million;

National Tax Research Center (NTRC), P66.394 million or P7.5 million higher than its P62.257 million present budget; Central Board of Assessment Appeal (CBAA), P16.277 million or 10.4 percent lower than its present budget of P18.161 million; and, Insurance Commission, P6,000 or 100 percent less than its present budget of P1.5 billion.

For the BOC, a minuscule increase of 3.5 percent for personnel services or, P1.43 billion from this year’s P1.38 billion was requested; an increase of 29 percent for MOOE (maintenance and other operating expenses) is requested for 2021 equivalent to P1.072 billion, compared to the present P834.2 million.

As for capital outlay, there was a decrease of more than 66 percent, from the current P232.12 million to only P78 million.

Deputy commissioner for internal administration, Donato San Juan, however told Pinoy Exposé the drastic reduction would not affect the bureau’s ongoing modernization program as its budget would have a separate funding source.

Finance secretary, Carlos Dominguez, impressed the lawmakers, headed by committee chair, Sen. Edgardo ‘Sonny’ Angara, by stressing that despite the annual reduction in the DOF’s budget request since 2017, government revenue take has been “unprecedented.”

The DOF’s 2021 budget request, he noted, is 25 percent lower compared to its budget request in 2019 and 16 percent lower compared to this year.

Before expressing the committee’s support for the budgetary needs of the DOF and its attached agencies, Sen. Imee Marcos also put it on the Senate records her praise for Comm. Guerrero.

Marcos cited Guerrero for “listening” to her proposal for the BOC to donate the electronic gadgets and other electronic devices the bureau has confiscated for the use of school children for their online studies.

Guerrero, for his part, also said that at least “30 tons” of confiscated gadgets and other electronic devices are ready for donation to the Department of Education (DepEd) and other learning institutions in need of them.

On being congratulated by Pinoy Exposé for the smooth deliberation of the BOC’s budget, Guerrero said it is “not yet over” (hindi pa tapos), referring to the budget deliberation at the Lower House.

However, Committee on Appropriations chair, Rep. Eric Yap (ACT-CIS Partylist), in a statement sent to this paper, already thanked his House colleagues on the conclusion of the committee’s budget deliberation last Friday, September 25, 2020 (see related story in this issue), indicating the DOF and its attached agencies had also gathered the nod of House members.