PPA eyes infra build-up as it marks its 44th founding anniversary

Marking its 44th anniversary today, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is making a big investment in terms of port infrastructure in its bid to achieve its vision by 2020.

It is also in line with the current thrust of the Duterte administration to realize the golden age of infrastructure and be at par with our international partners.

Incidentally, the move is also parallel to one of the major programs of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) of building better ports for the future.

PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago said the focus of the infrastructure projects include full containerization of Philippine ports and the provision of larger backup areas; safe and convenient Passenger Terminal Buildings (PTBs); upgrade and construction of cruise terminals in key areas nationwide.

“The president’s and Secretary Arthur Tugade’s marching orders are to heavily invest on port infrastructure in order to provide port services of global standards by 2020,” Santiago said.

“Since the start of the year, almost all of our resources have been directed to our port projects. We have already required all our contractors and suppliers to increase their productivity in order to finish the projects, particularly the locally-funded projects (LFPs), on time if not ahead of time,” Santiago stressed.

“This year, we have earmarked close to P6 billion to carry out our LFPs, which run to around 109 port projects, wherein 46 are in Luzon, 23 in the Visayas and 40 projects in Mindanao,” Santiago said.

For the Luzon port projects, a total of nine have already been completed while 18 are ongoing and 19 projects are under procurement. In the Visayas, six have already been completed, 10 are ongoing while five projects are under procurement.

Mindanao, meanwhile, registered the biggest number of completed projects with 21 while 49 projects are ongoing. The region also has 35 projects under procurement.

Currently, PPA is also carrying out several infrastructure projects in key areas to support the booming cruise industry aimed at developing international hubs for cruise liners like Surigao, Ilocos Norte, Bohol, Boracay, Palawan and Metro Manila. These make up the nation’s major nautical cruise arteries. It has also lined up various port programs for the development of cruise terminals in the above areas.

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

“Since the start of the year, almost all of our resources have been directed to our port projects. We have already required all our contractors and suppliers to increase their productivity in order to finish the projects, particularly the locally-funded projects (LFPs), on time if not ahead of time.”

As a result of its aggressive infrastructure push, the PPA registered lower net income in the first five months of the year as its expenses soared, as expected, to finance the said projects.

PPA’s total revenues for the first five months of 2018 went up by 13 percent to P6.84 billion from P6.04 billion a year earlier.

Expenses, however, went up 44 percent to P3.01 billion from P2.08 billion in 2017 primarily due to the huge infra spending particularly on repair and maintenance and land improvements that increased more than 139 percent, resulting in a net income of P3.83 billion or some 3.24 percent lower than the P3.96 billion posted in the same period in 2017.

Nonetheless, despite the huge financial requirements, the PPA remains very liquid and financially stable with a net worth of P187.57 billion.

OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

Philippine cargo throughput for the first five months of the year slightly increased by 0.44 percent due to the high activity in domestic consumption and positive business climate nationwide.

Total throughput reached 98.89 million metric tons (mmt) for the period compared to the 2017 figure of 98.46 mmt wherein domestic cargo volume went up almost four percent to 42.36 mmt. Foreign cargo traffic decreased by 1.85 percent to 56.524 mmt wherein imported products inched up by four percent to 37.99 mmt while export volume declined by 12.12 percent to 18.52 mmt.

In terms of container traffic, volume soared by 8.6 percent to 3.02 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) as against the 2017 same period volume of 2.78 million TEUs. Domestic boxes registered an increase of 9.4 percent to 1.23 million TEUs compared to the 1.12 million TEUs handled last year while foreign boxes registered an increase of eight percent to 1.79 million TEUs from 1.65 million TEUs in 2017.

Passenger volume continued to expand as of end May as it increased by 9.3 percent to 36.76 million versus the 33.63 million handled in the same period last year due to the increase in reliance by the sea-traveling public on RoRo vessels, fastcrafts and motorized bancas for inter-island travel particularly in the ports of Bohol, Masbate, Mindoro, Negros Oriental and Siquijor and Negros Occidental-Bacolod-Banago area.

The positive stream in passenger traffic is also due to the favorable response of the public to the government’s domestic ecotourism programs encouraging inter-island leisure travel through Ro-Ro vessels. The soaring international cruise tourism industry has also positively contributed to the overall performance of the country’s passage industry as it soared by more than 184.76 percent from a mere 43,820 international cruise passengers last year to 124,779 passengers this year. The concentration of cruise ship passengers is at the ports of Manila, Panay/Guimaras, Batangas and Palawan.

There is also no sign of port congestion in any of the major gateway ports of the Philippines particularly the Manila ports as productivity remains stable with a combined average productivity of 23 moves an hour. In terms of yard utilization, the average is at 60 percent while berth occupancy rate at the three ports is at 59 percent.

ANNIVERSARY 2018

This year’s anniversary will be celebrated in an austere manner and will instead infuse the fund to the port projects and to several corporate social responsibility programs.

With a theme, “44 years of building better ports for a better future,” a Thanksgiving Mass on July 11 at the PPA Corporate Office Building, to be followed by a recognition of several PPA employees for their exemplary performance for the past year, will highlight the celebration.

Winners from the different sports events in the first-ever PPA National Sportsfest will also be feted.

To give some entertainment, the offices under the Office of the General Manager, the Office of the Assistant General Manager for Operations, the Office of the Assistant General Manager for Finance and Administration and the Office of the General Manager for Engineering will present a number.

“Celebrating the anniversary is not about bonuses and raffle items. It is about the service we give to the public, which will guarantee the continued relevant existence of the agency,” Santiago said.