THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has yet to establish legal ownership of 5.42 million square meters of land and reclaimed properties valued at P256.05 billion because it lacks titles and other ownership documents, the Commission on Audit (CoA) said.
“Parcels of land/reclaimed land with an approximate area of 5.42 million square meters valued at P256.05 billion remained not covered with original/transfer certificates of title and other pertinent documents,” state auditors said in PPA’s 2025 audit report. “Hence, ownership of the land was not ascertained.”
The missing documents also prevented auditors from confirming whether the properties recorded in PPA’s books legally belonged to the agency.
CoA also found a P1.97-billion unreconciled difference between PPA’s accounting and property records, casting doubt on the accuracy of its reported assets. The agency’s property, plant and equipment (PPE) had a carrying value of P389.58 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025.
PPA also continued to record P432.26 million in assets that were unserviceable, damaged, nonexistent, disposed of or demolished, despite their no longer being available for use.
State auditors identified another P155.95 million in invalid prepaid withholding taxes carried over from 2019 and P104.93 million in uncollected interest and penalties that had not been recorded as receivables.
CoA also questioned PPA’s preparations for the P2.27-billion first phase of its Offshore Wind Port project in Barangay Pambuhan, Mercedes, Camarines Norte.
The agency had not completed key engineering requirements before procurement, including an environmental impact statement and value engineering studies, auditors said. PPA also proceeded without an environmental compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Inadequate project preparation could lead to additional costs from design changes, contract variations and implementation delays, CoA warned.
PPA also had P864.17 million in unsettled audit disallowances as of Dec. 31, 2025, along with P7.82 million in audit suspensions and P11.76 million in audit charges.
The agency implemented 34 of the 76 audit recommendations issued in the previous year’s report and closed seven. Another 35 remained unimplemented.
CoA generally accepted PPA’s financial statements but could not fully verify certain figures because some PPE accounts lacked updated valuations and accounting records did not match property records.
These deficiencies prevented auditors from obtaining sufficient evidence to determine whether adjustments to the reported PPE balance were necessary. — Pexcel John Bacon