Passenger volume up in PH ports, says PPA

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Busy local sea terminals saw growth in volume of travelers during the holidays and even early this month as passengers returned from vacations, according to the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).

The ports regulator, in a statement on Monday, reported that passenger volume from Dec. 15 to Jan. 5 rose by about 7 percent to 4.67 million from 4.37 million in the same period in 2023.

This surpassed the initial estimate of 4.59 million passengers.

Most of the passenger movement was recorded in Batangas, with over 601,000 travelers.

This was followed by Bohol and Siquijor with 482,694 passengers and 433,282 passengers. Rounding up the top five are Davao with 442,929 passengers and Bicol with 312,530 passengers.

This year, the ports regulator projected passenger volume at sea terminals to exceed 85.4 million.

Achieving this projection will surpass traffic in 2019, or before the pandemic when mobility was curtailed. Back then, passenger volume reached 83.72 million.

Amid a bullish outlook, the PPA is looking at crafting a master plan to build 10 seaports across the country to improve connectivity and supply chain.

These terminals are in Davila, Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte; Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro; Taytay, Palawan; Buenavista, Guimaras; San Carlos, Negros Occidental; Dumaguete, Negros Oriental; Lazi, Siquijor; Catbalogan, Samar; and Zamboanga, Zamboanga del Sur.

It also recently lined up P831-million worth of port expansion projects in Oriental Mindoro, Camiguin, and Dinagat Islands.

The PPA also started engaging consultancy services for the feasibility studies of 14 big-ticket port projects, which are targeted for completion by 2028.

These include the Port Capinpin Expansion project in Orion, Bataan; the Currimao Port Expansion and Restoration project; the Tapal Port Expansion in Ubay, Bohol; the New Port Development projects in Lavezares, Northern Samar; and the upgrading of general cargo berth in Davao City Port of Sasa; and expansion of Plaridel Port in Misamis Oriental.