SBMA collects P148M from debtor-firms

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT: The

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority ( SBMA) said its resolve to go after stale debts and past- due accounts of business locators in the freeport has netted P148.6 million for the stateowned agency.

The SBMA Finance Group reported that the funds collected through the new administration’s aggressive collection program, came from rentals, sublease shares, common use service area (CUSA) fees and other accounts receivable in the last 15 months.

The collection included long- time debt payments by Freeport- registered companies for P101.9 million and $ 593,118, and housing payments for P6.5 million and $ 172,922.

SBMA accounting officials said some of these debts were incurred as early as 2000 but remained unsettled for 17 years.

“This is proof that just by consistently applying existing laws and policies and actively engaging our stakeholders in Subic — listening to them and figuring out mutually- acceptable solutions, we can accomplish much,” SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma Eisma, said.

“Besides, looking after the interest of the government as regards the operation of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone is a duty we cannot shirk; we have to go after those who have debts, and we have to do this decisively,” she added.

Eisma said business executives who understood the purpose of the campaign and approve of the reform measures that have been put in place, supported it.

SBMA records showed that a lot of indebted companies have availed of payment schemes approved by the SBMA Board of Directors, thus allowing them to amortize past- due accounts over a certain period of time.

Some of these big locators include the Lyceum of Subic Bay that paid P31.5 million for both arrears and advance rent; Global Daeil Subic, Inc., which signed a payment deal for P16.6 million; and Subic Bay Yacht Club, Inc., with similar repayment scheme for P11.8 million.

Meanwhile, SBMA records showed that billings to business locators totaled P3.88 billion from January 2016 to December 2017. From this, the agency collected P3.12 billion, thus posting a collection efficiency of 80 percent.

Collection efficiency for its housing accounts was at 83 percent in the same period, with P167.7 million from total billings of P201.4 million.

Eisma added that as part of the agency’s collection thrust, the SBMA initiated an audit last year that yielded P18.3 million in new billings for gross revenue shares from several business locators in the zone.

“The audit is still on- going, and everyone in the business community here can expect that they will be treated equally and fairly within the policy framework,” she added.

Earlier, the SBMA chief announced the strict but consistent implementation of existing policies covering the use of areas and facilities leased to business locators, which are operating in Subic under a tax- and duty-free regime.

The agency repossessed facilities that some business locators have left idle and unimproved, revoked the lease and development contract of investors that failed to meet their obligations, and implemented a stringent policy to collect SBMA receivables, as approved by the board of directors.

Eisma explained that the strict measures, coupled with the streamlining of business processes in the freeport zone, are meant to improve the business climate in Subic, and foster economic sustainability and provide equal opportunities for all.