ILOILO CITY – The city government has lost millions in revenue from the operation of the Iloilo-Guimaras Ferry Terminal, a joint project with a property developer in a 1.3-hectare land it owns.
THE Iloilo-Guimaras Ferry Terminal (IGFT). (Tara Yap)
Data from the Iloilo City Treasurer’s Office said that the local government received only P4.4 million as shares from the IGFT from 2016 to 2024.
The ferry terminal was originally planned in 2008 by the inter-agency alliance Metro Iloilo-Guimaras Economic Development Council with technical assistance funded by the Asian Development (ADB).
While the proposal was under the administration of Mayor Jerry Jerry Treñas, it was under Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog in October 2012 when the 25-year joint venture agreement was inked.
The ferry terminal – primarily a gateway for passengers traveling between the island-province of Guimaras and Iloilo – also became a mini-mall with a grocery, a convenience store, and several fastfood restaurants.
Mabilog announced the city will have a big revenue.
But records show that Iloilo City did not earn much with a mere one percent share in revenue.
From 2016 to 2017, the city’s share was P35,437 per month and slightly increased to P42,782 per month in 2018 to 2019.
By 2019 to 2020, the monthly shares of the city decreased to P34,686 per month. It again decreased to P32,463 per month in 2020 to 2021.
The city’s share increased to P44,632 per month in 2021 to 2022 and P63,720 per month in 2022 to 2023.
In 2023 to 2024, the share increased to P79,684 per month.
There have been several attempts to amend the JVA with the company and call for a higher share to the city.
The ferry terminal stands in what used to be a Rotary Park complex turned over by the national government to Iloilo City through a presidential proclamation in 2011.