Gov’t aviation firm remits ₧369M in dividends to BTR for 2019-2021 obligations

THE Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) announced last Monday that it has remitted dividends to the national treasury and paid all of its bank loans.

CIAC Officer-in-charge Darwin L. Cunanan was quoted in a statement as saying that the nonchartered government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) was able to remit around P369 million as dividends to the Bureau of Treasury in several tranches from May to October last year, covering the 2019 to 2021 obligations.

Cunanan added that all outstanding loans of the agency, including money borrowed from the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines for various airport expansion infrastructure projects, are now fully paid as of the last quarter of 2022.

“CIAC ensures fiscal discipline and financial viability,” he said. “And we also adhere to the highest standards of corporate governance so now we are a debt-free agency and at the same time able to remit dividends to the national treasury.”

The CIAC also generated a profit margin from 46 percent in 2021 to 58 percent in 2022, with a net income of P438.75 million as revenues from non-aeronautical and other sources, or a 37 percent increase from the previous year, Cunanan noted.

“CIAC’S thrust now is to strengthen our commercial, engineering and corporate management teams in developing a globally-competitive service and logistics center at the aviation complex surrounding the airport and contribute to the national economy,” Cunanan said.

Cunanan also commended CIAC employees with service period ranging from 10 years to 25 years during ceremonies commemorating the 28th year of the GOCC at the agency’s building inside the Clark Civil Aviation Complex (CCAC), Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga.

CIAC was incorporated in 1994 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Clark Development Corp., pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 193, with the primary purpose of operating and managing the aviation complex.

Other EOS also provided that CIAC shall exercise jurisdiction over the 2,200-hectare aviation complex along with approximately 166.9 hectares within the Clark Industrial Estate 5. CIAC was later reverted as a subsidiary of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority in 2017 and made subject to the policy supervision and operational control of the Department of Transportation (DOTR) over the Clark International Airport (CRK) under EO 14.

Last November, the DOTR instructed CIAC to exercise regulatory supervision and oversight of activities occurring within the CCAC, including the CRK.

The newly-built CRK Passenger Terminal building, which was completed last year, has a capacity of eight million passengers annually. With the full implementation of the CIAC Master Development Plan, the CRK will accommodate an estimated 80 million passengers annually, the CIAC statement read.