Paulino reports banner year for Subic in State of the Freeport Address (SOFA)

“New investments, increase in revenues, new infrastructures, and influx of tourists highlighted 2022.”

This was the statement made by Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Rolen C. Paulino during his State of the Freeport Address (SOFA) held at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center (SBECC) on Tuesday.

Paulino cited, “2022 was a banner year for the SBMA despite the challenges during the past year. All revenue collections of the Trade Facilitation and Compliance Department, Business and Investment Departments, Seaport, Airport, Labor and Tourism Departments have increased compared to 2021 figures. And even surpassed pre-pandemic performance.”

Paulino reported that from these revenues, the SBMA has turned over P1.33-billion worth of dividends to the National Treasury in 2022. He added that this is higher by 20.21 percent to 2021’s P1.11-billion worth of dividends.

The SBMA was also able to help provide revenue shares to the contiguous communities of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone as stated in Republic Act 7227 as part of their revenue shares.

Paulino said that in Zambales, Olongapo City received P74.88 million, followed by Subic Town with P48.77 million, Castillejos with P29.74 million, San Marcelino with P38.54 million and San Antonio with P27.45 million.

He added that in Bataan, the town of Morong received a revenue share of P28.1 million, Hermosa with P33.81 million, and Dinalupihan with P39.98 million. Paulino said that the total revenues that the SBMA shared for the contiguous communities here amounted to P321.27 million for 2022.

“Back in July, Subic Bay Freeport was conferred as the Number 1 Tourist Destination in Central Luzon, and Number 5 in the Philippines in 2021 despite the Covid-19 Pandemic. We are determined to keep that reputation as by the end of 2022, we recorded 9.4 million same-day visitor arrivals in the Freeport,” he said.

The official also cited that his Fast, Friendly, and Flexible business practice has increased the number of approved new investment projects inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

“As an indicator of investor confidence, 38 Subic Freeport locators will be implementing their expansion projects amounting to P36.34 billion. That is a significant jump from P591 million in 2021, let alone P160 million in 2020, which were still during the pandemic,” he cited.

He added that during the same year, 133 new investment projects with committed investments amounting to ₱14.06 billion.

Paulino added  that the top new projects in terms of committed investments are Northern Palawan Power Generation Corporation with P7 billion, followed by UNCO United Oil and Gas Philippines, Inc. with P1.9 billion, then Tawi Tawian Petroleum Trading Corporation with P1.5 billion, and Agila Subic Compass, Inc. with P1.1 billion.

“For the expansion projects, Vectrus topped in terms of committed investments, committing an additional P14.52 billion, followed by Agila South, Inc. with P10.74 billion, and Agila NY Naval Inc. with P6.28 billion, and of course, Nidec Subic Philippines Corporation with P4.2 billion,” Paulino said.

Meanwhile, the current workforce of the Subic Bay Freeport recorded 149,681 employees in 2022 and is expected to augment another 4,700 workers as new approved projects commence operations and current investors start implementing their expansion projects.

For this, he acknowledged the neighboring local government units for augmenting the manpower requirements of the Freeport investors.

The SOFA is an annual event of the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce (SBFCC) where members are given a heads-up on the accomplishments of the SBMA from the previous year as well as a glimpse of the plans and programs for implementation by the Agency. (MPD-SBMA)

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SBF committed investments and expansion projects skyrocket in 2022

Committed investments infused by new investors and expansion projects in the Subic Bay Freeport have surged dramatically in 2022 following the easing of pandemic restrictions in the country. 

The Business and Investment Group of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), in its yearend report, said that committed investments in 2022 accrued to ₱50,408,031,828.06, which is 2,128 percent more than committed investments in 2021 of ₱2,262,774,109.78.

The report said that the number of new investors has increased from 115 companies in 2021, to 133 in 2022 whose committed investment amounted to ₱14,063,061,938.70.

These 133 new companies aim to employ 1,874 new workers that will add to the workforce of this premier Freeport.

Northern Palawan Power Generation Corporation tops the list of new investors, committing a total of Php7-billion in new investments. the company will locate at Cawag, Redondo Peninsula to engage in real estate development for power generation and other energy sources. 

This was followed by UNCO United Oil and Gas Philippines with ₱1,948,096,000 and Tawi Tawian Petroleum Trading Corporation with ₱1,500,000,000. Both companies are engaged in petroleum importation and trading.

On the other hand, expansion projects of existing SBF locators committed in 2022 has accrued to ₱36,344,969,889.30, which is 6,040 percent more than 2021’s ₱591,914,600.00.

Existing locators with the biggest committed investments in expansion projects include Vectrus Subic Corporation with ₱14,522,658,219.30, Agila South Inc. with ₱10,737,616,537, Agila NY Naval Inc. with ₱6,283,079,863, and Nidec Subic Philippines Corporation, which was recently signed during President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s official visit to Japan, with ₱4,200,000,000. 

The number of investors who plan to implement expansion projects have increased from 24 in 2021 to 38 in 2022. The expansion projects of these 38 investors will hire 2,832 additional workers.

“This proves that my appointment as SBMA Chairman and Administrator is indeed a very big blessing. I am so blessed to be working with a team of hard-working men and women; equally blessed to be appointed at a time when pandemic restrictions started to ease up,” SBMA Chairman and Administrator Rolen C. Paulino said.

This manifestation of investor confidence, he said, makes the Subic Bay Freeport Zone more attractive to foreign and local investments who want to make it happen in the Philippines by doing it in Subic Bay.

Meanwhile, SBMA Senior Deputy Administrator for Business and Investment Renato Lee III said that the operating expenses of the agency recorded as of November 2022 is at 4.14 percent, citing that the agency was able to generate ₱24.17 in revenues for every ₱1 spent.

He added that the revenue from January to November has reached ₱1,690,541,578.00, which is 134.81 percent higher than the target ₱719,949,783.68, resulting in a difference of ₱970,591,794.33.

Lee also said that the number of Certificates of Registration and Tax Exemption (CRTEs) that were processed almost doubled from the target CRTEs, disclosing an increase of 84.91 percent. He added that the target this year was pegged at 464, while the actual number of processed CRTEs have a total of 858.

The official also revealed that the 879 term sheets processed by the SBMA’s Business and Investment Departments (BIDs) has surpassed the target of 448, a discrepancy of 431 term sheets, or 96.21 percent surplus.

Paulino said that the agency will continue to follow the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. aiming to make this premier Freeport into the country's bastion of economic prowess. He added that with President Marcos at the helm, foreign investor confidence in Subic Freeport will remain strong. (SNL)

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Subic Port thrives as revenues up by 14 percent from Jan.-Sept. 2022

Port revenues for this premier Freeport is up with figures from January to September of 2022 recording ₱1,146,055,192.99, an increase of 14 percent compared to the same period last year.

According to Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Rolen C. Paulino, the current port revenue increase is in relation to the previous year’s record of ₱1,000,929,260.85, with a difference of ₱145,125,932.14.

“The record increase of port revenues this year compared to last year shows that the port sector of the Subic Bay Freeport is thriving, so we are expecting more ship calls here as we gradually ease out from the effects and restrictions of the pandemic,” Paulino said. 

Seaport revenues were derived from vessel charges, cargo charges, processing fee, SBMA share, lease/rental of facilities, and other charges. 

The SBMA Seaport department’s periodical report submitted by General Manager Jerome Martinez indicated the revenues collected from the first until the third quarter has already achieved 81 percent of their 2022 revenue forecast. 

Martinez disclosed that the department has pegged its 2022 revenue forecast at ₱1,413,602,940, and it only needs to earn ₱267,547,747 until December to achieve its revenue forecast.

During the same period, Martinez said that the SBMA received 1,810 ship calls this year up until September, an increase of 350 ships or 24 percent from the same period last year of 1,460 ship calls.

He added that of the 1,810 ship calls, 1,087 of them were foreign ship calls. The recorded 1,087 foreign ship calls has an increase of 18 percent from last year’s 921 foreign ship calls.

He also cited that 723 were domestic ship calls, with an increase of 184 domestic ship calls or an increment of 34 percent from last year, which recorded only 539.

The report also indicated that the Port of Subic has also recorded an increase in Gross Registered Tonnage (GT) by 30 percent, recording 22,852,265 GT for the period of January to September this year, an increase of 5,328,361 GT from last year’s same period of 17,523,904 GT.

Meanwhile, Senior Deputy Administrator for Operations Ronnie Yambao cited that the increase of Gross Tonnage is due to the increase in foreign vessels, recording 22,240,369 GT for the said period. He added that this is higher by 31 percent or 5,205,914 GT from last year’s 17,034,455 GT.

Yambao also cited an increase in Gross Registered Tonnage from the 611,896 GT derived from domestic vessels that came into Subic Freeport. This figure is higher by 25 percent or 122,447 GT than last year’s 489,449 GT of the same period.

Moreover, Yambao also mentioned an increase in non-containerized cargo volume for this quarter with 5,536.171 MT as compared to last year’s 4,863,697 MT. A 14 percent increase was registered, recording a difference of 672,474 MT.

The official, however, cited a negligible decline in the containerized cargo volume for this year, adding that there number of containers that utilized the Port of Subic were 190,168 twenty-footer equivalent units (TEUs) as compared to last year’s 192,217 TEUs, a one percent decline from 2,049 TEUs last year.

Chairman Paulino said that despite this “little hiccup,” the outlook for the Port of Subic is gaining momentum, and would likely trample last year’s records. 

“The hit rate for our key performance indicators are around 90 percent, with only containerized cargo volume lagging, but I am sure that the agency will hit the mark before the year ends,” he said. (MPD-SBMA) 

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SBMA approves 71.34% of ₱46.23-B total FDIs by all IPAs

A total of ₱32.98 billion in foreign direct investments (FDIs) approved in this premier freeport accounted for 71.34 percent of the total ₱46.23 billion approved by all Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) in the country during the second quarter of 2022.

These investments were pledges approved by the following IPAs: Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), Board of Investments (BOI), BOI-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BOI-BARMM), Clark Development Corp. (CDC), Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Poro Point Management Corporation (PPMC) Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority and the SBMA. 

According to SBMA Chairman and Administrator Rolen C. Paulino, this figure has recorded a significant year-on-year leap of 160,792 percent from ₱20.5 million of the same period last year to ₱32.98 billion this year.

Paulino attributed the said significant leap mainly to the aggressive efforts of the SBMA business group in attracting investors to make it happen in the Philippines, especially in Subic Bay. 

He also said that this is also partly a result of the implementation of the Fast, Friendly, and Flexible service to the SBMA’s stakeholders to help in the economic recovery from the effects of the pandemic. 

“We want companies to invest inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, and to do so, we want them to have a friendlier atmosphere while providing flexible terms for them in a fast and efficient way,” he said.

Paulino, likewise, disclosed that these FDIs approved by the SBMA Board of Directors showed a surge of 30,205.9 percent from the first quarter’s ₱108.83 million to the second quarter’s ₱32.98 billion this year alone. 

Senior Deputy Administrator (SDA) for Business and Investment Renato Lee III said that the biggest FDI accounted for came from Vectrus Subic Corporation (formerly Vector Services Philippines, Corp.) with a whopping ₱14.5-billion investment.

He added that the company is followed by Agila South, Inc. with an investment of ₱10.73 billion; Agila NY Naval Inc. that has an approved investment of ₱6.28 billion; and Agila Subic TC Inc. with an investment of ₱313.13 million, to name a few. 

“The investment growth at the Redondo Peninsula where the biggest approved projects for the second quarter of 2022 will be located will certainly spur growth in the area. The agency expects more influx of FDIs once these companies are in full swing,” Lee stated.

Lee said that Agila would be utilizing the Redondo Peninsula area as an industrial park for ship repair companies.

He said that the biggest foreign investor Vectrus Subic Corporation is engaged in general logistics services and service exports. He added that the company would be subleasing the area currently leased by Agila at the former Hanjin Shipyard facility in Redondo Peninsula.

Meanwhile, apart from the ₱32.98 billion in foreign equity of FDIs, the SBMA also approved ₱2.37 billion in Filipino equity, which is part of the 37 investment projects approved for the second quarter and will generate employment for 433 residents of Olongapo City, Bataan and Zambales. (MPD-SBMA) 

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Subic Freeport workforce now 145,230-strong

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has recorded a total of 145,230 workers employed in various business sectors inside this premier Freeport zone as of April 2022.

According to SBMA Chairman and Administrator Rolen C. Paulino, these workers are currently employed by the 3,689 companies investing in the Freeport. He added that with more companies looking forward to make it happen in the Philippines by investing in Subic Freeport, the number could further increase by the end of the year.

Paulino said that 64,474 of the 145,230 employees came from Olongapo City, citing that this accounts for 44.39 percent of the total workforce. He added that the number of workers who are from Olongapo City increased by 9.35-percent compared to the 58,960 recorded from the same month last year.

He added that workers from the province of Zambales, the second highest contributor to the total workforce, has a total of 27,087 employees, or five percent higher that last year’s 25,798. Next is Bataan with 18,062 employees, which increased by 2.5 percent from last year’s 17,611.

Other areas that contribute to Subic’s workforce include National Capital Region with 5,091 workers; Pampanga with 4,170 workers; Tarlac with 1,900 workers; and various other areas in the country with 24,446 employees.

Currently, the service-related sector has the most number of employees hired with 107,056 workers, followed by the manufacturing sector with 20,677 workers, then by the construction sector with 12,480 workers, and lastly the shipbuilding/maritime-related services with 5,017 workers.

“The agency is looking forward to the next few months as more and more companies are investing here in Subic Bay Freeport. I am quite certain that the numbers will go up, especially now that most of the workers here are fully vaccinated,” Paulino said.

“Right now, the agency is regularly posting job vacancies and conducting job fairs since most of the companies here that were badly affected by the pandemic are now reopening, while some are currently expanding. Our Labor Department under the leadership of Atty. Melvin Varias is busy with sorting out applicants who are looking to land a job from the numerous job vacancies in Subic Freeport,” he further added.

Meanwhile, Paulino also disclosed that one of the companies to look out for is the Japanese company Nidec Subic that manufactures reducer gears for robotic application. He said that the company is eyeing a P4-billion expansion project that will increase its workforce by 84 percent from the current 625 to 4,028 for the next three years. (MPD-SBMA)

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SBMA posts historic P387-M income in January

Boosted by a resurging seaport trade, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) recorded an income of P387 million last January, the highest monthly revenue ever recorded in the Subic agency’s almost 30 years of history.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the operating revenue posted in January 2022 was higher by 92 million, or 31%, compared to that in the same period last year.

The highest monthly revenue previously recorded by the SBMA was P358 million in “pre-pandemic” June 2019. The other record highs were P343 million in December 2021; P337 million in October 2020; P324 million in October 2018; and P298 million in July 2017.

This record-breaking income in January, Eisma said, was accompanied by other positive indicators: an 11% increase in operating expense that was higher by P10 million; a 41% growth in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA); and a 20% increase in net income before tax with subsidy, which at P222 million was higher by P38 million.

Eisma pointed out that SBMA’s seaport operations alone contributed P221.4 million, with P91.62 million from cargo charges; P75.32 million in SBMA share from terminal income; P34.17 million in leases and rentals; and P12.28 million in vessel charges.

“We are hoping that this January record will be a foretaste of what’s to come in the succeeding months, as we ease down into normalcy with the waning Covid-19 pandemic,” said Eisma.

The SBMA, she added, “has really set its sights higher this year, especially with seaborne trade, after realizing an actual increase in container cargo traffic even at the height of the pandemic in 2021.”

According to a profit and loss statement from the SBMA Financial Planning and Budget Department, other than the P221 million from seaport operations, the agency’s January 2022 revenue of P387 million was enhanced by P111 million in land and building leases; P28 million in regulatory income; P8 million in housing leases; P6 million in airport operations; P.67 million in tourism collections; and P12 million in miscellaneous income.

Although land and building leases suffered a 1.8% decrease from its 2020 level of P113 million, it still contributed P64.73 million in land leases and P45.98 million in building leases this year, said SBMA budget officer Edith Marzal.

The slight decline in land and building leases was easily offset by a 65% increase in seaport income, a 35% rise in housing leases, and a 20% growth in miscellaneous income, Marzal added. 

She also said that SBMA airport operations income likewise showed a 6% increase in January 2022 compared to last year’s record, while regulatory fees grew by 8%, and tourism income by 48%.

Meanwhile, the SBMA reported an aggregate 11% increase in its expense accounts with P67 million in manpower payroll services; P12 million in debt servicing; P10 million in occupancy costs; P1 million in repair and maintenance; P.07 million in advertising and promotion; and P14 million in various services.

The single biggest item in SBMA expenses was manpower cost for regular employees, which stood at P64.7 million, followed by contractual services at P14 million. (MPD-SBMA)

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