New PPA general manager to privatize more government ports

Economy

Written by VG Cabuag / Reporter

Tuesday, 20 July 2010 20:47

IF the new chief of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) will have his way, some of the country’s big ports will be privatized shortly. The first targets will include the Iloilo Commercial Port Complex, those in Ozamiz, Zamboanga and General Santos, as well as the roll-on, roll-off ports belonging to the Strong Republic Nautical Highway. The PPA owns and controls more than a hundred ports all over the country. At the same time, however, PPA General Manager Juan C. Sta. Ana said he would continue to improve the operations of profitable government ports. “We subscribe to the basic notion that the private sector is the engine of growth. For this reason, we should continue to encourage more private-sector participation in the management, operation and development of ports,” Sta. Ana said. Over the past years, the PPA was only able to privatize a handful of ports. The most recent was the Batangas Port, which has been idle for two years before its takeover by Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI), and the Manila North Harbor. Some of the port holdings privatized included the Manila International Container Terminal operated by the International Container Terminal Services Inc. and the Manila South Harbor of ATI. The PPA, one of the most profitable of the government-owned and -controlled corporations, was able to devolve some of the local ports to municipal governments the last few years. Sta. Ana said while he will continue to study what ports must be bidded out to the private sector as soon as possible, it is most likely that the bigger ports will be the first to go. Before joining the PPA, Sta. Ana was senior vice president of F.F. Cruz & Co., and vice president of several F.F. Cruz subsidiaries such as Freysinet Filipinas Corp. and F.F. Marine Corp. FF Cruz is one of the top contractors of the PPA, but Sta. Ana promised to have a level playing field and said he will not favor the company over the other contractors. Meanwhile, Emerson Lorenzo was appointed administrator of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) on Tuesday. He served briefly as Marina officer in charge after former Administrator Angelo Verdan’s term ended when President Arroyo stepped down from office on June 30. Lorenzo, a career officer of the Marina, served the agency for more than three decades. He is former head of the agency’s Maritime Safety Office which has since been renamed Shipyard Regulations Office.