State-run Philippine Ports Authority is spending P7.1 billion this year for the development of 46 ports nationwide.
PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago said the government was pouring in billions of pesos in the next five years to improve and modernize ports in the country.
“We have been injecting so much investment in our ports,” Santiago said.
The PPA in the first four months of 2018 completed 21 projects, including the provision of a baggage x-ray room at the screening area of the Dapitan Port in Zamboanga del Norte, port road widening in Dumangas, Iloilo, and alternate access road project in Iligan, Lanao del Norte.
In 2017, 40 projects worth over P2.9 billion were completed. These include the P476-million gantry crane project in Zamboanga City and P593-million crane project in Makar, South Cotabato; P157-million port expansion in Larena, Siquijor; and the P48-million wharf widening project in the Pasig River.
PPA in 2016 completed 68 projects costing P3.17 billion. These include port expansion projects worth P309 million in Puerto Princesa, Palawan; P272 million wharf extension in Lapaz, Iloilo City; as well as Phase III of the rehabilitation and improvement of the Tacloban City Port.
Several improvement projects were also carried out in Mindanao, which is poised to be the center of the Duterte administration’s infrastructure buildup, or the Build Build Build program.
Among these are the construction of a passenger terminal building and installation of a lighting system in the port of Glan in Sarangani; construction of a ro-ro ramp in Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte; wharf extension in Masao, Butuan City; and improvement of the power system in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte.
Transportation Arthur Tugade said better port facilities would strengthen tourism in the country and bolster the Philippines’ appeal as a cruise destination.