State-run Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is ramping up the improvement of 74 locally funded port projects nationwide.
As of October this year, PPA said it has 36 ongoing projects in Luzon, 19 in Visayas and 19 in Mindanao.
This resulted in a 46.4 percent jump in total expenses to P7.71 billion from January to October versus last year’s P3.58 billion, PPA added.
The projects include the P902.09 million upgrading of the general cargo berth by the Port Management Office (PMO) of Davao in Sasa; P886.7 million port expansion and restoration project in Currimao, Ilocos Norte; P818.59 million Capinpin port expansion project; and PMO Bohol in Catagbacan for P693.56 million, among others.
As part of operational improvements, PPA said it was able to service more passengers and cargo in the first 10 months of 2023.
Jay Santiago, PPA general manager, reported a 19 percent increase in total passengers to 9.19 million, including 46,657 cruise passengers with the revival of global and domestic tourism, trade and regular travel activities as well as the continued #PPAsyalTayo travel campaign of PPA.
During the period, total ship calls went up by 11.6 percent to 437,250, driven by more domestic vessels as well as additional routes and vessel trips that offset the 1.7 percent decline in calls by foreign vessels.
PPA also posted a 4.5 percent increase in cargo volume handled to 227.2 million metric tons (MT) from a year ago level of 227.1 million MT amid higher domestic and foreign cargo.
Santiago vowed to maintain the strong momentum in 2024 by pursuing reforms and completing quality projects.
From January to October, PPA’s revenue jumped by 30 percent to hit an all-time high of P21.06 billion, breaking the previous record high of 20.53 billion posted last year.
After contracting by 9.3 percent to P16.64 billion in 2020 from P18.35 billion in 2019 as global trade ground to a halt due to COVID-19 restrictions, PPA’s revenues picked up to P17.67 billion in 2021 and P20.53 billion in 2022 as the global economy gained traction.
Santiago said the agency continues to maximize all revenue fronts in order to collect the correct amount and reap the benefits of several measures implemented to be more efficient and effective.
