MANILA, Philippines—In a bid to make sea travel safer and more convenient for Filipinos, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has established a new pick-up and drop-off point for ship passengers at Manila’s South Harbor in Tondo.
With the new facility, passengers bound for the Visayas and Mindanao may avoid the hassles associated with sea travel today, including snatchers, dishonest public utility vehicle (PUV) operators and other unscrupulous “elements.”
In the past, “there had been bad reports about … Gate 1 of South Harbor.”
According to Port District Manager Constante T. Farinas, the agency would routinely hear of distressing reports at Gate 1 of South Harbor, where “‘bad elements’ mingled with real passengers.”
The PPA management decided to act on these reports and “put up this facility,” Farinas said in a speech Tuesday during the launch of the establishment.
The new facility was put up on a 2,272-square meter property that used to be the RV Marzan compound. Operations will depend on the schedule of arrivals and departures of vessels.
The facility will be secured as a controlled area where passengers may be picked up or dropped off. PUVs with fixed routes may wait at the pick-up or drop-off point to ferry passengers to their destinations.
At the moment, the facility is no more than a steel frame with corrugated metal roofing. PPA General Manager Juan Sta. Ana admitted that the facility was still a “work in progress,” and that this would be improved and expanded eventually.
“This is just the start. The important thing is that we already have this. We will improve on it as we go,” Sta. Ana said.
About 1,900 passengers pass through Manila South Harbor—operated by Asian Terminals Inc.—at any given time, he said.
“We want to assure our sea-traveling public that the Philippine Ports Authority, specifically the South Harbor Port, will … provide comfort, convenience and safety to our port-using public,” South Harbor Port Manager Francisquiel Mancile said in a separate statement.