Port potential: Jay Daniel Santiago, General Manager of Philippine Ports Authority

Source: The CEO Magazine

Serving as the country’s international gateway for trade, Philippine Ports Authority is making positive waves as it improves standards and structures.

Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has a strong vision for the future. The government unit wants its operations to be on par with its global counterparts – places like Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan – and it’s well on its way to seeing this become a reality.

Leading the charge is PPA’s General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago, who was appointed to the position in 2016 by the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte. He was given the mandate to implement the government’s 10 key-point agenda, which included eliminating any instances of corruption within the agency, improving the work culture and updating port facilities.

“By 2020, the PPA will provide port services at world-class standards,” Jay states. “That is our vision for the authority. We are working hand-in-hand with other agencies of the government and with the support of the private sector to achieve that goal. We want to be on par with maritime powerhouses all over the world.”

PPA was created in 1975, prior to which port administration and maintenance was the responsibility of separate governing bodies. However, with a combined number of 791 national, municipal and private ports across the country by the early-70s, the demand for a revised, longer-term strategy was evident. The government looked to other countries and could see that those with a national port authority performed well, and thus PPA was established.

Today, the organisation is a key economic driver in the country working to establish, develop, regulate, manage and operate the ports and harbours across the Philippines. Last year it posted a net profit of PHP6.159 billion. “PPA was able to achieve the feat with strong figures coming from lay-up fees, Ro-Ro [roll-on, roll-off] fees, berthing fees and remittances from our port operators,” Jay explains.

“All tariff items likewise demonstrated growth – with the exception of storage charges – due to the introduction of various port anti-congestion efforts, along with a significant increase in the volume of cargo and vessel traffic at the ports. Fund management income (FMI) also posted a minimal increase of 2% to PHP90.69 million. The positive performance is attributable to renewed investor confidence and upbeat consumer spending, as well as improved peace and order under the current administration.”

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