BCDA says it is not a losing corporation

MANILA, Philippines - State-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said that contrary to statements made during the Senate committee hearing on salaries of Government Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCC), BCDA is not a losing corporation.

In a statement, BCDA clarified that the operating loss of P1.148 billion recorded last year occurred because they started to recognize the full-year depreciation expense of P1.201 billion for the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) following the completion of the tollway.

Likewise, BCDA recognized non-cash depreciation of P549.5 million and unrealized foreign exchange loss of P6.6 billion in 2008 due to the restatement of its yen-denominated loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the construction of the SCTEx.

BCDA clarified that these losses do not reflect the real financial performance of the firm because these are non-cash accounting “paper” losses from foreign exchange fluctuations and depreciation.

Based on their statement of cash flow, BCDA generated net operating cash inflows of P3.11 billion in 2008 and P7.8 million in 2009. As a percentage of total revenues, BCDA’s personal services (PS) expenses are only 11 percent in 2008 and 13 percent in 2009.

Under the law, BCDA is mandated to generate funds from the disposition of Bonifacio and Villamor where the proceeds go to the conversion of Subic and Clark and their extensions and to the AFP Modernization Program which gets the highest share from the proceeds.