Customs Commissioner Bien Y. Rubio, the 42nd BOC Commissioner in the post Insular Aduana era, is one of the blessed customs insiders who reached the apex of their BOC careers. Before him were few insiders who started their BOC careers as mere pen pusher or office clerks in common lingo. Others entered the bureau as lower ranking ESS enforcer, and still others began their career as CIIS agents for which Comm. Rubio is one of them.
Customs Commissioner Bien Rubio’s work exposure in BOC for more than two (2) decades, both in the fields of intelligence and port operations gives him a huge advantage and immeasurable access of sensitive information from a network of men and women whom he worked with in Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) who know the ins and outs of the Bureau of Customs, especially the names of chink-eyed players who dominate the booming smuggling business in major ports of the country. For this he was so confident that upon assumption of office his co-workers will support him in his first clarion call: “To my co-workers, it is time to make that pivotal change; to catapult the BOC as a forefront in revenue collection rather than corruption. To achieve that 180-degree turnabout, this aspiration requires each and everyone’s hard work, dedication, and cooperation.”
This INSIDER’S advantage is acknowledged by Commissioner Bien Rubio himself when he was quoted as saying in his inaugural speech: “I am also confident that 90 percent of the problems encountered by the customs administration can be solved just by looking at things in an inward perspective.” He uttered this self-confidence statement by seeing eye to eyes the familiar and friendly faces he honestly believes will support his specific priorities: “(1) hit and surpass the revenue target, (2) simplify and secure the facilitation of trade, (3) curb smuggling of any form, and (4) uplift the morale of the men and women of the Bureau of Customs.”
Indeed, Comm. Rubio can solve 90 percent of the BOC’s problems having the abundance of information he amassed as Intelligence Officer for many years that now serve as the fountainhead of his actions to forfend or pare down the entry of smuggled goods. This is validated by the series of raids of the smugglers’ lairs resulting to the seizures of billions of pesos worth of smuggled agricultural products. His job is made easier with the cooperation of his co-workers in the BOC’s intelligence community, especially the veteran intelligence officers – the Enciso siblings: Vernie and Alvin. The former is now the BOC-CIIS director while the latter is the CIIS Chief in Manila International Container Port (MICP) for more than a decade now.
Indeed, being an insider who spent many years in BOC’s spy network has paid off handsomely, proof of which is the BOC’s 2023 collection performance of P883.213 billion compared to the P862 billion for 2022 for a revenue collection increase of P20. 794 billion or a percentage increase of 2.41%.
In March 2023, the BOC registered a record-breaking revenue windfall of Ph80.133 billion against the collection target of Ph72.282 billion for a record one-month surplus collection of 10.86% or P7.851 billion.
For the months of January to September 2024, the BOC based on its initial data, reported a collection yield of Ph690.842 for a percentage increase of 2.41% equivalent to Ph20.794 compared to the 2023 revenue collection of PhP660.388 billion. The January to September 2024 collection of Ph3.046 billion, however, slightly fell short by 0.44% against the DBCC collection target of PhP693.888 billion arising from the issuance and implementation of E.O. 62 reducing the rice tariff of imports from 35% to 15%. Added to this revenue loss is the issuance of E.O. 62 expanding the zero-import duties under EO 12 to include battery electric vehicles (BEVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in HEVs, and specific parts and components, resulting to another revenue loss of PhP2.901 billion.#
