PPA allots P2.6 B for priority projects

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has earmarked P2.6 billion this year for various priority projects of the Aquino administration to cope with the anticipated increase in passenger and cargo volume.

PPA general manager Juan Sta. Ana said in an interview with reporters that this year’s budget for capital expenditures would include a P900 million carry over from last year’s budget.

Sta. Ana said the remaining P1.7 billion would be used for priority programs particularly for the development and expansion of five major ports.

These ports include the port of Hilongos in Southern Leyte, Catagbacan in Bohol, Surigao, among others.

According to him, this year’s expenditures would be funded through the budget and that there is no need for the agency to borrow to bankroll the supposed projects.

PPA reported a flat growth in the number of passengers amid the aggressive fare promotions of budget airlines in the country and a slight growth in the volume of cargo shipped in and out of the country’s ports last year.

The number of passengers reached 49.85 million last year or 0.74 percent higher than the 49.48 million passengers serviced in 2011 reflecting the impact of competition posed by airlines national flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), publicly-listed Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific), Philippines’ Air Asia Inc., Southeast Asian Airlines (Seair), Zest Airways, Air Philippines offering budget fares.

PPA also cited the occasional stoppage of operations of some ferry vessels and trip cancellation brought about by inclement weather that affected passenger volume last year.

Likewise the agency reported that cargo volume shipped in and out of the Philippines reached 181.49 million metric tons last year from 178.28 million metric tons in 2011.

The agency attributed the increase to the substantial rise in cargoes in 17 port management offices (PMOs) with Puerto Princesa recording the highest increase with 47.16 percent followed by San Fernando with 26.78 percent due to higher export of mineral ore.

PPA explained that the increase were enough to wipeout the decline in other PMOs including the 33.65-percent drop in throughput in Iloilo, the 23.95-percent decline in South Harbor, and the 13.36-percent drop in Ormoc.

On the other hand, the PPA reported that Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) remained the country’s main international gateway as it accounted for 11 percent of the total cargo volume with 19.96 million metric tons followed by North Harbor with a 10.55-percent share or 19.15 million metric tons.

In terms of containerized cargo, PPA said volume increased by 5.2 percent to 5.19 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) last year from 4.93 million TEUs in 2011.

The Philippines booked a 6.6-percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth last year exceeding the five percent to six percent target set by economic managers through the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).