March 31 ----- The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is expecting around 2.2 million passengers in all ports across the country on the Holy Week exodus next week.
In anticipation of the high volume of passengers, PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago said all leaves of absence and scheduled day off of its personnel, particularly those assigned in port operations, were already cancelled.
He said all ports across the country, especially the five major ports that include the Port of Batangas, Port of Calapan, Port of Iloilo and Port of Davao, were already placed under heightened alert status and were ordered to attend to the needs of the passengers 24 hours a day. Santiago said the No Leave Policy and their "Oplan Biyaheng Ayos" will be implemented in 25 Port Management Offices (PMOs) of the PPA, including the 120 PPA-supervised ports across the country.
PPA spokesperson Eunice Samonte said the expected number of passengers for this year’s Holy Week exodus is almost double compared to last year. “Last year, we recorded 1.2 million passengers but we expect the figure to increase and our forecast is that it would go to around 2.2 million from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday,” said Samonte.
PPA officials attributed the expected increase of port passengers to the easing of travel restrictions, improving economy and the long weekend break after President Marcos moved the supposed holiday on April 9, Araw ng Kagitingan, to April 10 as part of his administration’s holiday economics.
For this year’s Lenten exodus, Samonte said some port passengers will be experiencing the newly-constructed port terminal buildings of Port of Coron in Palawan and Port of Masbate, and the Passenger Terminal Building (PTB) of Port of Calapan in Oriental Mindoro. The PTB of Port of Calapan is considered as the biggest port passenger terminal in the country, which can accommodate around 3,500 passengers from the previous 1,600. The Port of Calapan’s PTB is equipped with amenities that include four elevators, two escalators, play area and charging stations.
In order to prevent travel hassles, Samonte urged the public to plan their travel early and make sure to go to the port's hours earlier than the expected time of departure.
Source: mb.com.ph
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