Philippine Ports Authority (Pangasiwaan ng Daungan ng Pilipinas[1]) is a government-owned and

controlled corporation under the Department of Transportation as an attached agency. It is

responsible for financing, management and operations of public ports throughout the Philippines,
except the port of Cebu, which is under the Cebu Ports Authority.

History[edit]
Prior to the creation of PPA, port administration in the Philippines was merged with the traditional
function of revenue collection of the Bureau of Customs (BOC). Port and harbor maintenance was
the responsibility of the Bureau of Public Works (BPW). In the early 1970s, there were already 591
natiot planning, development, operations and regulation at the national level. Around this time, the
Bureau of Customs had proposed to the Reorganization Committee and to Congress the creation of
a separate government agency to integrate the functions of port operations, cargo handling and port
development and maintenance to enable the Bureau to concentrate on tax and customs duties
collection. Moreover, manage the country's ports. Hence, the Philippine Ports Authority was created
under Presidential Decree No. 505 which was subsequently amended by P.D. No. 857 in December
1975. The latter decree broadened the scope and functions of the PPA to facilitate the
implementation of an integrated program for the planning, development, financing, operation and
maintenance of ports or port districts for the entire country. In 1978, the charter was further amended
by Executive Order No. 513 the salient features of which were the granting of police authority to the
PPA, the creation of a National Ports Advisory Council (NPAC) to strengthen cooperation between
the government and the private sector, and the empowering of the Authority to exact reasonable
administrative fines for specific violations of its rules and regulations. By virtue of its charter, the PPA
was attached to what was then the Department of Public Works and Highways's responsibility. The
executive order also granted PPA financial autonomy.

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 857 December 23, 1975

PROVIDING FOR THE REORGANIZATION OF PORT ADMINISTRATIVE AND OPERATION

FUNCTIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES, REVISING PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 505 DATED JULY
11, 1974, CREATING THE PHILIPPINE PORT AUTHORITY, BY SUBSTITUTION, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES

Article I
Title.

Section 1. Title This Decree shall be known as the Revised Charter of the Philippine Ports Authority
created under Presidential Decree No. 505 dated July 11, 1974.

Article II
Declaration of Policies

Section 2. Declaration of Policies and Objectives It is hereby declared to be the policy of the State
to implement an integrated program for the planning, development, financing, and operation of Ports
or Port Districts for the entire country in accordance with the following objectives:

(a) To coordinate, streamline, improve, and optimize the planning, development, financing,
construction, maintenance and operation of Ports, port facilities, port physical plants, all 11
equipment used in connection with the operation of a Port.
(b) To ensure the smooth flow of waterborne commerce passing through the country's Ports
whether public or private, in the conduct of international and domestic trade.

(c) To promote regional development through the dispersal of industries and commercial
activities throughout the different regions.

(d) To foster inter-island seaborne commerce and foreign trade.

(e) To redirect and reorganize port administration beyond its specific and traditional functions
of harbor development and cargo handling operations to the broader function of total port
district development, including encouraging the full and efficient utilization of the Port's
hinterland and tributary areas.

(f) To ensure that all income and revenues accruing out of dues, rates, and charges for the
use of facilities and services provided by the Authority are properly collected and accounted
for by the Authority, that all such income and revenues will be adequate to defray the cost of
providing the facilities and services (inclusive of operating and maintenance cost,
administration and overhead) of the Port Districts, and to ensure that a reasonable return on
the assets employed shall be realized.