Calapan Port rehab nears completion
The Calapan Port PTB, with a construction cost of P353 million, is considered the largest installation being run by the PPA in the country
The Philippine Ports Authority revealed that the Calapan Port in Oriental Mindoro — which is undergoing rehabilitation — is expected to serve passengers anew by March this year.
On Tuesday, PPA general manager Atty. Jay Daniel Santiago and Transportation Undersecretary for Maritime Elmer Sarmiento personally inspected the ongoing development of the new Passenger Terminal Building at Calapan Port.
“About 3,500 passengers will be benefited once the expanded port terminal building is opened for public use,” Santiago said, adding that its target completion is on 18 February this year.
The Calapan Port PTB, with a construction cost of P353 million, is considered the largest installation being run by the PPA in the country, besting the current biggest passenger terminal building of Cagayan de Oro, with a capacity of 3,000 passengers at any given time.
The Calapan Port Terminal Building was started in 2021 or during the tenure of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade which is part of the 484 port projects completed by the DoTr and the PPA since July 2016.
Full completion of the port’s rehabilitation is seen to improve inter-island travel as well as the movement of essential goods between Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro and neighboring provinces.
To recall, thousands of passengers suffered inconvenience last December 2022 after waiting and queuing for many hours at the said port due to its ongoing maintenance.
Meanwhile, Santiago and his team have aided about 800 families in Baco, Oriental Mindoro that were drenched by flooding due to the continuous rains since December 2022.
The PPA has distributed 80 sacks of rice, 17 boxes of corned beef, 8 boxes of canned sardines, and 6 boxes of instant coffee to flood-stricken families.