The Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) said P30.1 billion is needed to upgrade over a dozen regional and subregional seaports into deep-water facilities over four years.
It said in a statement the initiative supports the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) vision of establishing nationwide agri-logistics hubs.
Based on the initial financing requirement of developing 18 ports, the PFDA will need P6.04 billion in 2024 and P24.08 billion next year to steer the plan to action.
PFDA said that of the 2024 budget, P4.2 billion will develop seven regional ports including four fish ports in Davao, General Santos, Iloilo and Zamboanga and the three deep water ports in Cebu, Palawan and Surigao City.
The balance will be for subports with deep water ports of 3 to 5 hectares.
The 11 subports identified for development by PFDA are those in Jose Panganiban, Camarines Norte; Pagudpud, llocos Norte; Bongao, Tawi-Tawi; San Jose, Occidental Mindoro; Cataingan, Masbate; Infanta, Quezon; Pantao, Albay; Kalmansig, Sultan Kudarat; Bataan; Mati City, Davao Oriental; and Cadiz, Negros.
Agriculture Secretary and PFDA chair Francisco Tiu Laurel supports PFDA’s goal of using the regional ports to become entry and exit points for agricultural items to reduce the cost of transporting farm and fishery products across the islands.
Aside from deepening access channels to the ports to accommodate fully laden Panamax vessels, the PFDA’s multi-year development plan also includes building silos, cold storage, agricultural processing areas, cargo handling facilities, quays, shipyards, fuel depots and pipelines.
The PFDA plan includes transporting inputs to areas they are most needed to reduce food production cost. In the DA’s four-year plan, it commits to build seaports and possibly, a so-called “food train.”
PFDA’s modernization plan aligns with the DA’s program to reduce food production and distribution costs. The DA believes it would substantially increase farmers’ and fishermen’s incomes even as food prices stabilize.