ARMM port collection in first half doubles at P4.9M

COTABATO CITY - The Regional Ports and Management Authority (RPMA) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has collected P4.9 million in revenues from port operations in the past six months.

The RPMA earned only P2.4 million in the same period last year.

Hanie Bud, RPMA’s general manager, said the increased collections generated from January to June 2014, can be attributed to the improved enforcement of port dues and regulations.

“And port users and clients have also been cooperating with us towards that goal,” Bud told reporters.

Bud said a bigger increase in the collections is also expected in the second semester of 2014. The RPMA is targeting a P6-million revenue collection for this year, he added.

The RPMA, the only government-owned and -controlled corporation in the ARMM, is a major contributor to the regional treasury, where the region’s share from taxes and other revenues generated by different agencies operating in Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi are being kept.

“We have already generated a P10 million trust fund apart from our regular remittances to the Office of the Regional Treasury,” Bud pointed out.

Bud said that aside from the RPMA’s increased collections, they have also enhanced port facilities and passenger terminals in the region through an improved security and data information management system.

“Offices overseeing major ports and sub-ports were provided with computers and online communication facilities for technical enhancement purposes,” he said.

The RPMA operates the big ports in Parang town in Maguindanao and in Jolo, Bongao, Lamitan City, the capitals of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Basilan, respectively.

The RPMA also exercises regulatory control over smaller boat docks in the towns of Siasi, Maluso, Mapun, Sitangkai, and Sibutu, all in the autonomous region.