PPA sees over 4.5 million travelers this season

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) expects more than 4.5 million passengers to travel by sea during the Christmas season as it assured the public that measures are in place to prevent congestion and promote safety.

PPA general manager Jay Santiago yesterday said the agency is imposing the “no leave policy” for frontline personnel to ensure that there are enough workers to facilitate the travel of millions of passengers.

“We have standard operating procedures. The first thing we do here is we issue a directive to all our port management offices that no leaves would be approved starting Dec. 22 until Jan. 3, 2025,” Santiago said.

Between Dec. 22 and Jan. 3, the PPA projects that at least 4.5 million passengers would travel through the ports.

Santiago said the PPA is prepared to assist passengers during the holiday rush, assuring them that port police and personnel are on standby throughout the period.

“Even in the possibility of a weather disturbance during the holiday break, we are also prepared. Our personnel assigned in the terminals know what they should do and what assistance they have to extend to our passengers who might get stranded,” Santiago said.