DOTr pressed to privatize Iloilo port

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

ILOILO CITY—The city government of Iloilo wants the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to expedite the privatization and upgrading of its port complex to accommodate more vessels and spur growth in local trade, commerce and tourism.

Iloilo Mayor Jerry Treñas told reporters on Friday that ports tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.’s International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) had already submitted an unsolicited proposal for the development, operation and maintenance of the Iloilo Commercial Port Complex (ICPC).

“They proposed to convert it (ICPC) into a container port to improve berthing facilities, add equipment … If ICTSI comes in, we will be able to accommodate more international and domestic vessels and have a better Ro-Ro (roll-on, roll-off) port,” Treñas said.

READ: ICTSI’s P8.7-B offer for Port of Iloilo under review

Listed port operator ICTSI first proposed to develop and operate both ICPC and the Port of Dumangas in 2019, saying that an investment of more than P5 billion was required to modernize infrastructure.

Endorsed to Neda

The Iloilo City Local Development Council executive committee endorsed ICTSI’s proposal to the National Economic and Development Authority in 2021.

Since the port was developed in the 1970s, Treñas said there had been little to no additional improvements done. He noted, however, that three to four international shipping lines were showing interest in redeveloping Iloilo’s main port complex.

Under the Iloilo City Local Development Council’s Resolution No. 02 Series of 2023, the local government urged the DOTr to hasten the privatization of ICPC, saying that it was deemed the “most expeditious and efficient course of action to expand, improve and develop the said seaport with minimal to no financial burden upon the government.”

“[S]aid financial constraints would otherwise pose a hindrance to the development of the same,” the council said.

Economic growth

Treñas also attested that ICPC had helped Western Visayas reach the highest economic growth rate among all regions in the country at 9.3 percent, exceeding the national average of 7.2 percent.

In August, the DOTr announced that it planned on spending P1.4 billion to build and expand 14 Ro-Ro ports to ease the movement of goods and people around the country.

The Department of Energy also previously said it planned on redeveloping a port in Iloilo to serve as an integration port that would house materials needed for offshore wind development.