Government set to complete P9 billion in port projects this year

MANILA, Philippines — About P9 billion worth of port projects are expected to be completed by the government this year, equipping regions with fresh capacity to take on higher volumes of trade and travel.

The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), in its annual report, said it will undertake 84 projects in 2024 requiring a combined investment of P28.59 billion.

From this, the PPA expects to finish within the year 29 projects, amounting to P8.65 billion, that would scale up regional capacity to process additional cargo and passengers in ports.

These projects will add a total of nine ramps for roll-on, roll-off vessels and almost 4,000 seats for passengers. For logistics, the upgrades will introduce an increased backup area of nearly 92,000 square meters and extended berths of more than 1,000 meters.

The largest project by cost is the P902.09 million expansion of the cargo berth in the Port of Sasa, followed by the P693.56 million development of a wharf and port operational area in the Port of Catagbacan.

Further, the PPA is close to completing the construction of a P635.03-million wharf in the Port of Claveria and a P620.64-million designated cruise terminal in the Port of Jubang.

Likewise, the agency is poised to finish this year the P495.88 million rehabilitation of the Port of Legazpi and the P493.25 million enhancements to the Port of Tagbilaran.

By region, Central Visayas will accomplish the biggest projects by cost, totaling P2.05 billion, as the PPA made it a priority to improve multiple ports in Bohol.

The PPA is determined to push up the port capacity in the regions with the resurgence in trade and travel volumes here and abroad. The PPA recorded a cargo throughput of 272.46 million metric tons in 2023, up by five percent from 259.14 MMT in 2022.

Also, passenger traffic in ports jumped by 24 percent to 73.64 million, from 59.19 million, lifted by increasing spending for leisure travel. The PPA also listed 88,080 passengers on cruise ships, marking the return of premium travel in the pandemic aftermath.

Recently, PPA general manager Jay Santiago has declared his agency’s commitment to spend as much as P16 billion until the end of the Marcos administration to put up priority projects.

In particular, the PPA will build 14 big-ticket projects across the archipelago intended to support the growing demand for inter-island transport.