MANILA — The Department of Transportation inspected the Port of Batangas where more than 20,000 passengers are expected to go through this coming Holy Week.

Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon led the inspection which will also be done on other ports which will cater to approximately 1.73 million passengers this Semana Santa. 

Dizon and Philippine Ports Authority General Manager Jay Santiago toured various port facilities including passenger entrance, ticketing booths, X-ray baggage scanners, passenger lounge, restroom, food stalls, and boarding gates to ships.  

The Batangas Port is known to be among the busiest during the annual Semana Santa. Dizon cited the improvements made at the Batangas Port which got rid of fixers.

“Ngayon pagbaba nila sa kalye, diretso na sila sa loob, covered ‘yung walkway at meron pang mga trolley para sa mga medyo may mabibigat na maleta. Meron ding mga shuttle para sa mga senior at PWD and pagpasok mo naman dito sa terminal, para kang nasa mall—maayos na maayos,” said Dizon.  

Aside from Batangas Port, the top 5 with the most passengers this Semana Santa are the Port Management Office (PMO) Mindoro, Panay/Guimaras, Negros Oriental/Siquijor, and Bohol.  The influx of passengers going home to their respective provinces is expected to begin next Tuesday, April 14.

Meanwhile, Dizon also announced the joint memorandum circular between the DOTr, PPA, Philippine Coast Guard, and Maritime Industry Authority to hold accountable owners of vessels that are found to have overloaded their passengers. 

“Ang joint memorandum circular na ‘yon ay tungkol sa Anti-Overloading. Ang pinakaimportante lalo na sa panahon na marami ang bumabiyahe ay ‘yung safety ng ating mga kababayan and ‘yung pinakamalaking problema dyan ay ‘yung overloading at hinding-hindi natin pwedeng payagan ‘yan. So, nandito ang mga kasamahan natin sa Coast Guard, nandito ang PPA para masigurado natin na nagko-coordinate sila para walang overloading,” he said. 

“Kapag may na-violate, medyo mabigat ang i-impose natin pwede kang ma-suspend, pwedeng makansela ang lisensya nila at malaki-laki ang fines.” 

Dizon also thanked the PPA for its Electronic Ticketing System which will speed up the process of purchasing tickets for passengers and will also prevent overloading because it ensures that tickets cannot be sold beyond the ship's capacity and fixers or sellers of more expensive tickets will also be avoided. 

“Napakaganda nito lalo sa mga pasahero natin, gagawin na ng PPA within the next few months basta within this year, maro-rollout na ‘yan,” he said. “Kapag may e-ticketing na tayo, wala nang masyadong pila.”