PPA allocates

The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has earmarked R6 billion this year for its locallyfunded projects (LFPs) covering a total of 109 ports – 46 in Luzon, 23 in the Visayas, and 40 in Mindanao, according to General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago.

So far, in Luzon, PPA has completed 9 port projects, with 18 still ongoing and 19 under procurement. In the Visayas, 6 have been completed, 10 are ongoing and 5 projects are under procurement.

Mindanao, for its part, registered the biggest number of completed projects – 21 in all, with 49 still ongoing and 35 under procurement.

“Since the start of the year, almost all of our resources have been directed to our port projects,” he explained. “We have already required all our contractors and suppliers to increase their productivity in order to finish the projects, on time.”

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

For the first five months the agency’s profits went up 13 percent to R6.84 billion but expenses soared 44 percent to R3.01 billion as infra spending particularly on repair, maintenance and land improvement skyrocketed over 139 percent.

Overall, PPA netted R3.83 billion earnings, 3.24 percent lower than the same period in 2017. However, the agency remains liquid with a net worth of R187.57 billion.

Philippine cargo throughput for the first 5 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 versus 2017’s 98.46 mmt while domestic cargo volume went up 4 percent to 42.36 mmt. Foreign cargo traffic decreased 1.85 percent to 56.524 mmt while imported products inched up y 4 percent to 37.99 mmt and export volume declined 12.12 percent to 18.52 mmt.

In terms of container traffic, vol-