The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has generated P21.06 billion for the past 10 months this year, which is more than 30 percent higher compared to the revenues generated from the same period in 2022.

PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago attributed the significant increase to higher volumes of cargo and vessel income brought by policy changes, planning, and strategic management.

“The figures will speak for itself, in PPA we take our job seriously and we mean business. These increasing figures are actually the fruits of the past years policy changes, planning, and strategic management,” said Santiago.

“I also express my appreciation to all PPA employees for working together to carry out the direction of the management’s efficient administration of expenses and streamlined delivery of services to port users and stakeholders,” he added

For the month of October alone, Santiago said PPA’s actual revenue is Ph2.25 billion which is 3.19 percent higher on the target of P2.18 billion.

Compared to October 2022, PPA data revealed that last month’s revenue is 71.55 percent higher.

The same data revealed that the Service and Business Income accounted for 41.33 percent or Php 8.70 billion of the total revenues while Regulatory Income was at 40.86 percent or P8.60 billion.

The recorded Interest and Gains, on the other hand, was at 17.91 percent or P3.75 billion.

The Net Income amounted to P9.76 billion which is 15.41 percent or P1.30 billion higher compared to the net income for the same period in 2022.

PPA projects

The total expenses of PPA for the first 10 months of 2023 recorded an increase by 46.39 percent or P 3.60B compared to the total expenditures incurred during the same period last year due to the high budget utilization for PPA project implementation.

The increase in expenses was brought by various ongoing projects across the country.

Currently, the PPA is implementing a total of 74 locally funded projects as of October 2023 with 36 ongoing projects in Luzon, 19 in Visayas, and 19 in Mindanao.

This includes the contruction of wharf with breakwater piles at the Port Management Office (PMO) of Norther Luzon, Capinpin Port, Orion, Bataan Expansion in PMO Bataan/Aurora, Banago Port, Bacolod development in PMO Negros Occidental, and construction of a cruise ship port in PMO Surigao.

In 2022, PPA was able to complete 69 projects and in the first half of the year 2023.

A total of 30 seaport projects were also completed during the first year of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr.

More port passengers

Based on the PPA data, ports passenger statistics also continue to catch up with pre-pandemic levels as it posted an increase of 19.01 percent or 9, 192, 720 passengers due to the resumption of domestic tourism, trade, and regular travel activities.

With the revival of the global tourism activity and the continued #PPAsyalTayo travel campaign of PPA, a total of more or less 50,000 cruise passengers were also recorded during the period.

Additional routes and vessel trips were also added at PMOs Panay/ Guimaras, Bohol, and Negros Oriental/ Siquijor thus recording total ship calls of 437,250 or a growth of 11.57%, driven also by the increase in the number of domestic vessels.

“We believe this is a good sign and a great shift in gears during this rebound of the economy from the effects of the pandemic, PPA has been very consistent in increasing our figures and completing quality projects,” said Santiago.

“However, I believe we could have done better if we were able to adapt to the intended digitalization plans, but for now we follow the lead of DoTr (Department of Transportation) and will seek alternative digitalization options to optimize our operations,” he added.