SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has recently released revenue shares for the second half of 2017 to the municipality of Hermosa and seven other local government units (LGUs) adjacent to the Freeport.
The LGU chiefs receive their revenue shares for the second half of 2017 from SBMA Chair and Administrator, Atty. Wilma Eisma amounting to P147 million. According to Eisma, the areas they govern are contiguous to the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and are integral in the growth of the former US naval base.
Among those who joined her are Mayor Jopet Inton of Hermosa, Bataan; Mayor Jefferson Khonghun of Subic, Zambales; Mayor Rolen Paulino of Olongapo City, Mayor Jose Dominguez of Castillejos, Zambales; Dr. Estela Antipolo of San Antonio, Zambales; Elvis Soria of San Marcelino, Zambales and SBMA Director Julius Escalona.
The municipalities of Dinalupihan and Morong are also included in the list of LGU beneficiaries.
Last year, a total of P1.2 billion in SBMA seaport revenue surpassed its 2016 record by three percent with an increase of 12 percent in the ports containerized cargo volume.
Atty. Eisma said the figures SBMA Seaport Department indicated a total income of P1,173,720,042 in January to December 2017 last year, compared to the P1.137 billion revenue collection in 2016.
Eisma added that out of that the volume of containerized cargo grew to 139,980 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2017 from just 124,707 TEUs in 2016. This increase in containerized cargo had offset a six-percent decrease last year in the volume of non-containerized cargo, which fell to only 6,646,322 metric tons as against 7,071,444 metric tons in 2016.
The SBMA Seaport Department processed 66,172 TEUs of imported containerized products in 2017, which was nine percent higher than the 60,593 TEUs processed in 2016.
Meanwhile, the department processed last year 25,007 TEUs of exported containerized products, which was six percent higher than the 23,527 TEUs in 2016.