PPA turns 51 with eyes on loftier goals
• The Philippine Ports Authority marks its 51st founding anniversary this July with a wealth of achievements
• This year’s celebration pays tribute to over five decades of steering the country’s port operations towards growth and global competitiveness
• From January to June 2025, PPA recorded 148.933 million metric tons of cargoes, 7.54% higher year-on-year
• Container traffic improved in the same period by 11.03% to 4.159 million twenty-foot equivalent units from 3.746 million TEUs
• Roll-on/roll-off traffic advanced 9.36% to 6.396 million units while passenger volumes were up 10.25% to 45,988,942
THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) marks its 51st founding anniversary this July with a wealth of achievements.
With the theme “Sustaining the Legacy, Strengthening the Nation,” this year’s celebration pays tribute to over five decades of steering the country’s port operations towards growth and global competitiveness.
“This milestone is more than just a number—it is a testament to over five decades of commitment, innovation, and nation-building through efficient and inclusive port management,” PPA
general manager Jay Daniel Santiago said in a speech during the agency’s opening of its weeklong anniversary celebration on July 7.
Established on July 11, 1974 through Presidential Decree No. 505, PPA serves as the primary government agency tasked with integrating and coordinating the planning, development, financing, and operation of ports throughout the archipelago.
For more than half a century, PPA has been instrumental in trade, tourism, and economic progress by ensuring efficient port services nationwide.
In the first six months of the year, the ports authority recorded higher cargo, ship, and passenger traffic.
From January to June 2025, PPA recorded 148.933 million metric tons of cargoes, 7.54% higher than the 138.492 million mt in the same period in 2024.
Container traffic improved in the same period by 11.03% to 4.159 million twentyfoot equivalent units (TEUs) from 3.746 million TEUs last year.
Roll-on/roll-off traffic advanced 9.36% year-on-year to 6.396 million units while passenger volumes were up 10.25% to 45.989 million.
Ships calling PPA ports were 8.81% higher in the first six months of the year to 340,494 ships.
Top contributor to government Revenue-wise, preliminary figures show the agency earned P14.67 billion in
the first half of the year, a 13.65% increase from P12.91 billion posted in the same period last year.
As a government-owned and controlled corporation, PPA also maintains its rank as one of the top contributors to the national coffers, remitting P5.20 billion of dividends for fiscal year 2024. The latest remittance, which represents 54% of PPA’s net earnings in 2024, is its highest contribution so far, exceeding the P5.06 billion in 2023 and P5.05 billion in 2019.
For the first half, PPA has completed 90 locally-funded port projects, of which 38 projects are in Luzon, 30 in the Visayas, and 22 in Mindanao.
Notable projects
Some notable projects this year include the P261.5-million rehabilitation of Marawi port in Lanao del Sur; newly-completed Port Operations Building under the P430.39million Balingoan Port Expansion Project in Misamis Oriental; and the operations of Amandayehan port in Basey, Samar, a fish port that has been upgraded to handle cargoes and serve as an alternate gateway while San Juanico Bridge — which connects Samar and Leyte — implements a load limit for its rehabilitation.
Projects for completion this year include the Salomague Port Expansion Project in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur; and the San Andres Port Improvement and Expansion Project in Catanduanes.
Additionally, cruise ship port projects
are in the pipeline for Coron, Palawan; Bunga, Aklan; and Mambajao, Camiguin, enhancing the country’s capability to accommodate growing international cruise ships demand.
PPA also aims to resume bidding out port terminal management contracts for various ports, including General Santos, by the second half of the year.
PPA’s dredging operations for the first half of the year resulted in 1.392 million cubic meters of silt removed from various ports nationwide, including in Aklan, Iloilo, Lanao del Norte, Manila, Negros Oriental, Tacloban, and Zamboanga.
PPA’s mandatory tree planting program also resulted in 12.395 million trees planted as of January 2025, contributing to carbon sequestration and ecosystem restoration. As part of its commitment to environmental stewardship, PPA enforces mandatory tree and mangrove planting for all entities applying for contracts, accreditations, and permits with the authority. PPA’s regular coastal clean-up activities also resulted in the collection of 228,216 tons of waste from 2016 to June 2025.
PPA last February also formally launched its Integrated Management System (IMS) at the Port Management Offices NCR-North and PMO NCRSouth, an initiative aimed to enhance port operations by ensuring compliance with ISO standards and the Government Quality Management Systems Standards. The goal is to implement IMS across all PMOs and the PPA head office by 2028 as part of a broader strategy to standardize and elevate port management nationwide.
