The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has remitted a total of P9.4 billion to the national coffers for 2018.
Of the total, P3.5 billion were in dividends and P5.9 billion in taxes, the state-owned agency said in a statement. The latest dividend was the highest in PPA’s history, and 13% more than the P3.1 billion recorded in 2017. The taxes for 2018, on the other hand, were more than half of the total it paid in the last 10 years.
PPA, as a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC), is mandated to remit at least 50% of its annual net income to the national government after it was granted fiscal autonomy during the term of President Corazon C. Aquino.
PPA’s total revenues for 2018 reached P17.49 billion, 8.13% higher than the target for the year and 14% more than the total revenues recorded a year earlier.
PPA general manager Atty. Jay Daniel R. Santiago said the agency’s performance in the past two years has placed the PPA on stable financial ground, enabling it to continue sustaining port services of the highest standards.
“This was achieved amid the agency’s massive infrastructure spending in port repair, modernization and development in support of the government’s Build, Build, Build program for the Philippines to achieve the ‘Golden Age’ of infrastructure,” Santiago said.
“The streamlining of port processes and aligning [them] with global standards coupled with strategic port development and modernization have greatly contributed to this strong performance,” he noted.
“This is also a testament to the resiliency of the Philippine economy as it continues to thrive despite external pressures from different foreign economies,” Santiago added.
With this, PPA is expected to once again land in the higher echelon of the “Billionaires Club”, the list of GOCCs contributing billions of pesos in dividends to the national coffers. A consistent member of the club though situated in the lower half in the last decade, PPA went up in ranking from 2016 when it started remitting higher dividends.
