As a result of the conduct of oversight hearings on transportation spearheaded by Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, 19 new routes of the Roll-On Roll-Off were added to the Roro System.
In a briefing before Arroyo in Argao, Cebu Monday, Director Marc Pascua of the MARINA said that as a result of her initiatives as Speaker arising from the House’s oversight functions, 19 new missionary Roro routes were established in different parts of the country this year.
Four of the 19 are already operational while 15 are just waiting for the arrival of the vessels that will service the routes.
It was also revealed that nine more new missionary routes will be offered based on the recommendation of the shipping Industry.
Arroyo had made use of the Lower House’s oversight functions to determine if laws and existing projects are properly implemented.
The 19 new ports were presented during the Oversight hearings by the Marina. Arroyo pushed for the implementation of the new routes.
Arroyo visited Cebu Monday on her final sentimental journey as Speaker. She visited two of the Roro ports built during her time as President in southern Cebu namely Taloot port in Argao and Liloan port in Santander.
She then crossed to Dumaguete City on board a Roro vessel using the Liloan to Sibulan port in Dumaguete.
She said she was happy that the Ro-Ro project had been revived by the present administration and that she was extremely delighted and honored to have helped in lowering the cost of goods, boosting tourism and facilitating travel around the country through the Roro System which she established when she was President in 2003.
There are currently 140 Ro-Ro routes nationwide servicing millions of passengers and cargo handlers.
She also said she went to Cebu and Dumaguete to personally thank them for the support during her entire political career.
‘Since I’m ending my term as Speaker, I’d like to give a little recollection about the times when you helped me so much in my political career. When I ran the first time for senator in 1992, we were 24 seats up for election. I was number 13, in the middle. But here in Cebu, even if it’s the first time I ran, I was number seven. So I thank you very much for that. Of course, I’ve always kept coming to Cebu,” Arroyo said.
“So I’m really, really very grateful to the people of Cebu. And so I decided that in one of my last trips before I end my term as Speaker, I will be here to say thank you so much for all your support,” she added.