CAAP remits P21B to Nat’l Treasury
THE Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) handed over more than P21 billion in remittances to the National Treasury from 2016 to 2020 as it remains steady in its strong fiscal performance.
For the said period, CAAP, an attached agency of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), remitted almost 20 times more than its total P1.3 billion remittance from 2008-2016 combined.
CAAP spokesman Eric Apolonio said this feat has solidified CAAP’s membership in the ‘Billionaires’ Club,’ an elite circle of government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) that have remitted billions of pesos in dividends and remittances to the national government.
Since 2016, CAAP, as ordered by DOTr Secretary Art Tugade, has consistently turned over billions of pesos in remittances year after year.
The whopping P21 billion in total remittances is broken down as follows: P5.4 billion (2017), P6.2 billion (2018), P3.5 billion (2019), and P6 billion (2020). This is remarkably higher than the agency’s total remittances in the past 8 years before the Duterte administration took office in 2016.
For 2020 alone, Apolonio said that CAAP Director General Jim Sydiongco has reported that the agency was able to remit a total of P6 billion despite the aviation industry being among the hardest-hit sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Year 2020 has been a rough year for the aviation sector, to say the least. With nations closing borders, airlines facing bankruptcy, to employees getting laid off – we can say that the industry has been on life support. But that did not hinder us from performing our obligations. While we are greatly challenged by a raging global crisis, we remain committed to practice accountability, transparency, and good governance as mandated by the good Secretary,” Sydiongco said.
Early last year, Tugade directed all state-owned corporations of the DOTr, including CAAP, to remit in advance their respective dividends and remittances to support government spending measures amid the COVID-19 crisis and other essential government projects.
Meanwhile, the constant strong fiscal performance of CAAP was cited by Tugade, as this will not only help generate resources for COVID-19 efforts and for other projects but will also set a benchmark beyond the term of the Duterte administration.
