CUSTOMS CHIEF LAYS DOWN GUIDELINE FOR ‘YEAR OF THE HORSE’

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC), under Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno would be guided by three simple words for 2026, the ‘Year of the Fire Horse’ in the Chinese calendar, as it ambitions to meet its collection target of ₱1.003 trillion. The target was approved by the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) during its meeting last January 19.

With the goal post already set despite a host of challenges, the Customs chief, during the traditional ‘New Year’s Call’ held at the Port of Manila, said that moving forward, the agency would be guided by the acronym, ‘AIM’ that translates to ‘Accountability,’ ‘Integrity’ and ‘Modernization.’

“Pagbubutihan natin sabay-sabay sa bureau, and you have my commitment that what I am asking from you are the same things that my team and I will be doing.

“We will pursue integrity in our jobs, we will be accountable for our decisions, and we will definitely modernize our Bureau of Customs.

“With your help, we will deliver this to our communities; we will deliver this to the Republic,” the Commissioner said.

Present during the event to hear Nepomuceno’s directive are the agency’s top officials, employees, and the heads of the bureau’s 17 collection districts.

Revenue targets

Despite the DBCC already reducing the revenue target for the BOC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) this year due to the country’s poor economic performance amidst domestic and global challenges, the over ₱1 trillion target would prove to be a big challenge to meet.

The DBCC originally set the BOC target for this year at ₱1.03 trillion but trimmed it by 0.98 percent.

The BIR, meanwhile, is expected to collect ₱3.759 trillion despite also missing its 2025 revenue target by 3.7 percent or ₱3.105 trillion out of its ₱3.219-trillion full-year goal.

The BOC, meanwhile, raised P934.4 billion in 2025, missing its P958.713-billion target by 2.6 percent.

In 2025, the BOC only managed to collect ₱934.4 billion, missing its ₱958.713 billion target by 2.6 percent. The figure, however, is an improvement of ₱17.7 billion or 1.9 percent from its 2024 actual collection of ₱916.674 billion.

To demonstrate his commitment and seriousness, Commissioner Nepomuceno led in the signing of a covenant of all Customs officials to abide by the guidance he set for the agency in the spirit of unity and shared responsibility.

His initiative was immediately followed by the other agency officials at the conclusion of the event.

‘Top performers’ recognized

Meanwhile, top collection performers in the last months of 2025 were recognized by Commissioner Nepomuceno during the year’s first ‘Collectors’ Conference’ held last January 22 in Parañaque City hosted by the NAIA Collection District under Collector Atty. Yasmin Mapa.

Getting recognition from Nepomuceno for their strong revenue performance in November are the collection districts of NAIA, Batangas and Clark.

The ports of Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga were cited for surpassing their targets in December while the ports of Davao, Aparri, Limay and Cebu were recognized by meeting their targets in the last two months of 2025.

“This conference is our first step for the year to pursue our common mission of delivering the targets starting this month alongside the reforms.

“Perform well and I will support you, because your success is my success and the success of the entire bureau,” Commissioner Nepomuceno said.