SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, August 6, 2021 — Seven municipalities and one city adjoining the Subic Bay Freeport received on Friday a total of P166.16 million in revenue shares from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), a benefit given to help local government units (LGUs) keep up with development in the Subic Bay area.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the new release represented shares for the first semester of 2021.

The allocation is 7.29 % higher than the P154,873,605.57 distributed in the same period last year, although far smaller those given before the Covid-19 pandemic caused economic slowdown here, Eisma said.

The beneficiaries are Olongapo City; the towns of Subic, Castillejos, San Marcelino and San Antonio in Zambales; and the municipalities of Dinalupihan, Hermosa, and Morong in Bataan.

The latest release gave Olongapo City the highest share amounting to P38,646,910.80, followed by Subic with P25,403,910.86, and Dinalupihan with P20,667,618.91.

The rest received their shares as follows: San Marcelino, P19,914,780.16; Hermosa, P17,301,942.69; Castillejos, P15,553,376.27; Morong, P14,439,842.95; and San Antonio, P14,239,559.46.

SBMA Deputy Administrator for Finance Antonietta Sanqui turned over the cheques to LGU executives and representatives on behalf of Eisma last Friday.

Before this, the SBMA had released LGU shares totaling P656.85 million in the last two years alone. These include P203.13 million in August 2019, P175.73 million in February 2020, P154.87 million in September 2020, and P123.1 million last February.

Eisma said the determination by the SBMA to stop the spread of Covid-19 here, coupled by continuous efforts to develop new revenue streams helped increase the agency’s income this year and subsequently the LGU allocations despite the economic downturn.  

The LGU shares are taken from the five-percent taxes paid by Subic business locators and are apportioned among LGUs according to population (50%), land area (25%), and equal sharing (25%).

Republic Act No. 9400, which amended RA 7227 or the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992, directs the SBMA to allocate two out of the five percent of gross income earned for LGU shares.

Meanwhile, LGU executives who attended the turnover of revenue shares said they would use the money to fund various health programs of the LGUs, especially the fight against the Covid-19 virus.

Mayor Elvis Soria of San Marcelino, Zambales said the funds are most welcome “especially these days when the rainy season affects many of our constituents and there’s a need to allocate funds for relief operations.”

Subic Mayor Jonathan John Khonghun, meanwhile, said they would also use part of the money for infrastructure projects like road construction, as well as for scholarship program “now that the school year is going to begin soon.” ~

PHOTOS:

SBMA Deputy Administrator for Finance Antonietta Sanqui turns over revenue shares to local executives and representatives