ARMM's Polloc Port nets PHP91M in revenue in 2015

• Source:http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=3&rid=869251
• Tuesday, March 22, 2016

(PNA), LAP/NYP/EOF

PARANG, Maguindanao, March 22 (PNA) -- Revenues earned by Maguindanao Polloc Port, the gateway to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), rose in 2015 as compared to 2014, officials said.

In 2015, the port management collected PHP91 million in revenue, a 60 percent increase as compared to the previous year which only gave the port PHP19.2 million.

Hexsan Mabang, Regional Economic Zone Authority (REZA) director, attributed the mark-up in revenue to the improved security situation and good management in and around the Polloc Port.

“This is also a result of the reforms initiated by the regional government to streamline and professionalize its operation," Mabang said, adding that he learned from the Bureau of Customs that in 2013, the port only had a revenue of almost P80,000.

Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman instituted reforms, including construction of new facilities as part of revitalization of the region's gateway to the outside world through the seas.

Mabang told reporters that record will bear him out in declaring the success of the reforms ARMM had instituted in the Polloc Port.

"These collections were recorded by state auditors and the office of Gov. Hataman. We have government accounting records to show,” Mabang said.

The past six months showed more foreign vessels coming in the port with goods, not only for ARMM traders but also for the neighboring regions.

Mabang said the peace and development in the region contributed much to the improvement of port services and its corresponding revenues.

“We can also attribute this big increase in our port revenues to the fragile peace, which we now have in the surroundings of the Polloc Port, to the absence of armed conflicts in the past five years,” Mabang said.

“One of the strategies initiated by the present ARMM leadership to improve the port was to open its operation to scrutiny by the media and interested anti-graft activists,” Mabang said.

ARMM has allocated PHP150 million for the development of the Polloc port and other sea ports across the region.

Dormant for almost 10 years, the port was reborn with the innovations and development infused by the ARMM leadership.

ARMM is composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.