New Batangas port terminal ‘most modern’
‘ASHIP passenger terminal that is comparable with the country’s modern airports” is how Asian Terminals, Inc. (ATI) President Eusebio Tanco described the Batangas Port Integrated Passenger Terminal (BPIPT) during its official inauguration on Tuesday.
Department of Transportation (DOTR) Secretary Arthur Tugade, the guest-of-honor at the unveiling, could not agree more with the fitting description of the 600-squaremeter facility touted to make the travel experience for ship passengers passing through the Batangas port highly convenient.
Tugade lauded the ATI infrastructure initiative not only because it is aligned with the Duterte Administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program but it also jibed well with President Duterte’s mandate upon assuming the presidency in 2016. “The President’s main marching order is to provide service and programs that will make the lives of Filipino people better and more convenient. While the government did not spend a single centavo for the construction of this facility, this is nonetheless a showcase of a very successful Private-public Partnership (PPP).”
ATI has spent P1.3 billion to build the fully-airconditioned, high-ceiling, and expansive facility that is equipped with modern equipment including a huge stateof-the-art LED display that shows in full the details of passenger ships leaving or arriving in Batangas Port within the next two to four hours, complementing the usual announcements on the terminal’s public address system.
“The huge LED display situated right in the middle of the passenger terminal’s expansive boarding area for everyone to see shall address the usual passenger oversights of either missing to board their ship on time or boarding the wrong ship,” says an ATI official.
ATI said the newly-inaugurated 600-square-meter facility is only the first phase of the two-stage BPIPT project. Phase 2 involves the extension of the passenger terminal to cover 900 square meters more, allowing the terminal to accommodate more than twice as many passengers as it currently handles.
“On behalf of the government and the people who are now using and enjoying the convenience of this facility, I thank Mr. Tanco and ATI for the BPIPT. My only other wish is that we all work together to maintain this facility clean and world-class at all times, the way it looks now so that more travelers would be able to experience the convenience and coziness it provides in the years to come,” Tugade said.
BPIPT is the third major infrastructure project of ATI over the last four years as the exclusive port operator of Batangas port. In 2018, it put up the multilevel car storage facility in Batangas port to triple the port’s capacity to handle CBUS (completely built units). In 2020, the company also made massive improvement for the port’s container terminal to enhance container handling capacity and efficiency.
Apart from the DOTR Secretary and the ATI President, other key personalities who took part in the inauguration of the BPIPT were PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago, Pmo-batangas Port Manager Joselito Sinocruz, and representatives of Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas, Batangas Congressman Mario Vittorio Mariño, and Batangas City Mayor Beverley Rose Dimacuha.