Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is set to release a total of ₱178-million revenue shares to a city and seven municipalities contiguous to the country’s premier Freeport.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose L. Aliño said that the shares given to local government units (LGUs) are intended to augment local resources and enable stakeholder communities to benefit from the operations of Freeport businesses by augmenting the LGUs’ funds for development projects in health, education, peace and order, and livelihood generation.

“These revenue shares that the agency received from the locators’ gross income, are intended to create a parallel development between the Freeport and its nearby LGUs. SBMA is highly committed to support our neighboring localities by helping them improve the living conditions of their residents’,” Aliño explained.

The LGUs include Olongapo City, which will receive a net share worth ₱41.62 million; while the Zambales towns of Subic will receive ₱26.7 million; Castillejos, ₱16.18 million; San Marcelino, ₱21.37 million; and San Antonio, ₱15.13 million.

Meanwhile, in Bataan, Morong town will receive ₱15.73 million, Hermosa ₱19.06 million, and Dinalupihan ₱22.17 million.

Per the SBMA Accounting department, the shares to be released accounted for two per cent of the five per cent tax on gross income paid for by free port locators for the period July to December 2023. The other three per cent of the taxes paid are remitted directly to the national government.

The LGU share is determined according to population (50 per cent), land area (25 per cent), and equal sharing (25 per cent).

Aliño said the shares given by the SBMA to the neighboring communities would benefit almost 750,000 residents in the said areas.

Over the period of ten years, LGU shares significantly increased by 118.94% from ₱81.3 million in 2014. This is attributed to the growing number of locators who continue to trust in the services accorded to them by the agency.