Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said the bureau is ahead by P11 billion of its set target collection for the year 2026.

“We have already collected P491.74 billion, over P11.7 billion above our target,” he said in an interview during the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon, a Presidential Communications Office television program on Friday.

Confident

Nepomuceno said he is confident that the agency will surpass its target collection for this year.

As the Development Budget Coordination Committee adjusts the country’s growth and fiscal targets, the BoC is now tasked to collect P1.011 trillion from the previous P1.003 trillion.

“P11.47 billion surpluses will mean a lot. That will translate into capabilities in building school rooms, purchase of medicines, uniforms, and all other needs of communities supported by the government,” the Customs chief said.

Indicting the smugglers

Meanwhile, Nepomuceno admitted that even if the BoC has already intensified operations against smugglers, indicting smuggling masterminds remains a challenge.

“The biggest challenge is how to snare those who are really behind these smuggling syndicates, those who finance them, the operators and protectors. We need to find out and apprehend them because otherwise, the smuggling will just continue,” he said.

Over P40-B worth of smuggled goods seized

To date, he said more than P40 billion worth of smuggled goods have been seized by the BoC throughout the country since he started as BoC chief in July 2025.

“More than 1,090 successful operations have been conducted, yielding P40 billion plus worth of smuggled goods,” he added.

As a solution to attain the certainty of conviction, Nepomuceno said that the BOC; the National Prosecution Service consisting of fiscals of the Department of Justice, the Department of Finance; and the National Bureau of Investigation should work together to pin those masterminds with appropriate charges.