COTABATO CITY – The Regional Ports Management Authority in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (RPMA-ARMM) was turned-over to its new officcr-in-charge (OIC) Ersan Imban Warad in a ceremony held on October 29 in Cotabato City.
Warad serves as OIC-general manager of the agency by virtue of an appointment signed by ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman effective October 26. Lawyer Laisa Alamia, ARMM executive secretary, led the ceremony, which was attended by port managers in the region and RPMA-ARMM’s staff.
Alamia said she is confident Warad will manage the agency well. RPMA-ARMM’s outgoing general manager Hanie Bud stepped down to pursue another career. Bud served as the chief of the agency since 2012.
Warad, a Yakan native from Maluso town in the province of Basilan, served as the agency’s assistant general manager for admin and finance since 2013. “We will continue what our former general manager (Bud) had started,” he said. He reiterated that the agency will enhance the delivery of safe, efficient and effective ports services in the region.
The RPMA-ARMM is mandated to integrate the policy of the National Ports System in managing, administering, and operating all ports in ARMM.
As of October 2015, RPMA-ARMM generated about P12.3 million in revenue collections from seaport operations. The figure is expected to increase by the end of the year exceeding the agency’s target of P12-million for 2015.
RPMA-ARMM operates the base ports in Jolo in Sulu; Bongao in Tawi-Tawi; and Lamitan City in Basilan; as well as the sub-ports of Siasi in Sulu, Maluso in Basilan, and Mapun, Sitangkai and Sibutu in Tawi-Tawi. It also exercises regulatory powers in six private ports/wharves operating in the region.
“We in the RPMA-ARMM aim to align and be competitive with all ports in the national and regional maritime transport chain,” Warad said. (Bureau of Public Information)
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