In what it described as a historic revenue contribution to the government coffers, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has earned over P20.4 billion in 2022—the biggest collection in the history of the agency since its inception in 1974.
PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago said the 2022 revenue is a good sign that the Philippine economy is not only recovering from the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic but is actually doing well in terms of the government’s economic goals.
"It has been business as usual since we got back, we continue to veer away from the grip of the pandemic by contributing to the economy and increasing our revenues by 16%, more than the P17.5B in 2021 and P16.6B in 2020. We believe this is a good sign and a great shift in gears during this rebound of the economy" Santiago said.
“This success can be attributed to the authority's sound fiscal management and brought about by the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions leading to a positive rebound of the economy,” he added.
Santiago said the good performance of the PPA can also be attributed to the investments made over the years in terms of improving port facilities across the country.
Over 20 ports are under the supervision of the PPA.
Last year alone, Santiago said 69 projects were completed including Tablas (Poctoy) Port Expansion Project in Port of Tablas (Poctoy), Odiongan, Romblon; Balanacan Port Expansion project located in Port of Balanacan, Marinduque; Construction of Back-Up Area and Port Operations Building of Coron Port, Palawan which is set to be inaugurated this month.
Other projects include the Matnog Port Expansion Project from Port of Matnog, Sorsogon; Back-Up Area Construction of Dumangas Port in Dumangas, Iloilo; Back-Up Area Construction of Port of Getafe, Bohol; Construction of Port Operations Building and RoRo Ramp in Maasin Port (Southern Leyte); Development Project of Dapitan Port located in Port of Dapitan, Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte; Upgrading and Expansion of Lawigan Port in Bislig, Surigao del Sur; Construction of the Continuous RoRo Ramp in Port of Cagayan de Oro, Cagayan de Oro City; and the Expansion of Back-Up Area with RoRo ramp that has been conducted in the Port of Lipata, Surigao City, Surigao del Norte.
Citing PPA data, Santiago said the agency made significant gains last year with a 7.15 percent (527, 131 TEUs [Twenty-For Equivalent Units)) increase of containers handled at ports nationwide that caused a 5.01 percent (143, 880 TEUs) improvement in the volume of domestic cargoes.
He said this is the same as with foreign containers that had an 8.51 percent (383, 251 TEUs) increase for the said year.
While sea-going passenger travel last year was set to normalize its performance as it recorded an increase of 155.99 percent, or equivalent to 35, 997, 226 passengers.
He attributed this to the resumption of domestic tourism, trade and regular travel activities.
On the other hand, shipcall had an increase of 25.31 percent (95, 993 shipcalls) while domestic shipcalls attained a percentage of 26.22 or had 96, 352 shipcalls. However, he said foreign shipcall had a decline of 3.05 percent or only 359 shipcall.
“These increasing figures are proof of PPA's efficient management of expenses and streamlined delivery of services to port users and stakeholders,” said Santiago.
“In the past 10 years, the next highest total revenue of PPA was recorded during the pre-pandemic year 2019 amounting to P18.3B which is 5% higher than the income reached in 2018, so my point is, we can always surpass the initial target because we have set our own high value goals.”
“Consistent with our track record of continuously increasing our performance, PPA sets a target in 2023 to generate P21.6B to help us achieve more” Santiago said.