The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has marked 4.724 billion liters of fuel in the first quarter of the year, equivalent to P60.15 billion in collected duties and taxes, the agency said in a statement yesterday.
With this, the BOC said the total marked gasoline, diesel and kerosene from September 2019 to March 2022 were 39.316 billion liters, equivalent to P374.13 billion in duties and taxes.
Diesel comprises 60.51 percent of the total volume marked, followed by gasoline with 38.97 percent and kerosene with 0.52 percent of marked volume.
As to location, 73.66 percent of the marking was in Luzon, 20.9 percent in Mindanao and 5.44 percent in the Visayas.
The bureau recorded 28 oil firms that are now marking since the first actual marking in September 2019.
Also aligned with the program, the BOC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue seized a total of 93,043.80 liters of diesel and 18,839.00 liters of kerosene as well as two units of tank trucks carrying unmarked fuel with an estimated value of P13.36 million.
Tanks of 12 retail stations and two private companies where BOC found these unmarked fuels were likewise sealed and recommended for filing of criminal cases.
The fuel marking program aims to raise revenues while curbing fuel smuggling and leveling the playing field in the Philippine oil industries. – Angela Celis
