Garcia drops P20 Danao Port fee

The additional P20 of terminal fee at the Danao Port will now be discarded, as Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia has ordered for the return of the ticketing booths outside the actual terminal from inside a neighboring mall.

Garcia has discovered during her meeting with the members of the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) board, the CPA general manager, Marina, Jomalia Shipping Corporation and Fifth District Congressman Duke Frasco that the increase in terminal fee from P5 to

P25 was brought by the placement of the ticketing booths inside the mall in Danao.

“It was found out that, originally, Jomalia and other shipping companies had their ticketing booths just outside the terminal. The justification of the CPA was they had to move out because they are no longer allowed inside of the port because they had to renovate the old terminal then,” Garcia said.

Jomalia and two other shipping companies have reportedly been collecting the additional P20 from passengers in lieu of paying rent to the mall.

“It was learned that Jomalia was not paying a single centavo for rent in exchange for issuing the additional twenty pesos which would be due to the operators of the mall,” she stated.

Marina also reportedly informed Garcia that the additional P20 did not reflect on the submitted fare by the Danao City Port.

“I asked what was the submitted fare to Marina because it’s Marina that controls the Certificate of Public Conveyance. According to Marina, it was P220. I asked whether napuno na ba sa P220 kanang additional. Apparently not,’ Garcia said.

In response, Garcia has ordered for the ticketing booths of the shipping companies to return to their original posts outside the terminal. She also asked to discard the P20 fee which went to the operators of the mall.

“Niana ko nga sukad karon, ayaw na jud mo pangolekta anang additional nga P20,” she said.

Garcia also updated that members of the CPA and Provincial Engineering Office had conducted an inspection on the site yesterday to see if shipping companies had heeded to the deadline set by the governor.

Prior to this development, Frasco has filed House Resolution No. 304 requesting the committee on transportation to conduct a congressional investigation on the fee increase.

Frasco also furnished a copy of the resolution to the governor. This prompted Garcia to look into the issue of fee increase.

“He asked if he could possibly also give me a copy of such a resolution which he did last Monday. And because of that resolution, it calls for a congressional inquiry, it is also my duty to investigate since it affects our constituents that regularly take the Danao to Camotes vessels,” Garcia said.

The House Resolution filed by Frasco is yet to be scheduled for hearing. —