The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has turned over P4.08 billion in cash dividends to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) this year, bringing its total dividend contributions under the Duterte administration to a precedent-setting P21.48 billion, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.
PPA’s total dividend contributions under the Duterte watch exceeds the sum it had remitted in more than two decades under the previous administrations since 1994, the DOF said in a statement yesterday.
PPA’s total dividend remittances to the national government from the effectivity of the Dividend Law in 1994 up to 2016 amounted to P20.50 billion, the DOF added.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez received on behalf of the BTr a cheque worth P4.08 billion from Jay Santiago, PPA general manager, last March 21 representing PPA’s dividend contributions from its net earnings in 2021.
Since 2018, PPA has been remitting more than 50 percent of its previous year’s net earnings.
“I commend the PPA for being among our top GOCC (government-owned and controlled corporation) performers. The PPA’s exceptional track record under the Duterte administration is a model that other GOCCs should emulate,” Dominguez said.
“We need all the help we can get from our state-run firms to further strengthen our fiscal position amid the external risks we are currently facing as we sustain our economic recovery,” he added.
PPA’s share along with the remittances of other GOCCs were used to augment the massive funding needed for the government’s coronavirus response programs since the pandemic broke out in March 2020.
Republic Act No. 7656 or the Dividends Law mandates all GOCCs to declare and remit to the national government at least 50 percent of their annual net earnings as cash, stock or property dividends. – Angela Celis
