THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) on Wednesday reported a surge in passenger traffic from July to September this year as economic activities rebound from the pandemic.
Data from the agency showed that passenger volume in the third quarter shot up by 233.54 percent to 15.71 million from 4.71 million in the same period last year.
Container traffic, on the other hand, increased by 9.7 percent to 2.03 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the third quarter from 1.85 million TEUs in the same period last year.
Domestic boxes handled at the ports posted 9.47 percent growth to 759,884 TEUs from 694,142 TEUs; while foreign boxes registered an increase of 10.4 percent to 1.27 million TEUs as against the 1.15 million TEUs handled in the same period last year.
Of the total foreign boxes, import volume contributed 650,106 TEUs while export boxes increased to 629,381 TEUs, up by 10.75 percent and 10.08 percent, respectively.
Shipcalls went up 29.9 percent to 119,977 in the third quarter from 92,359 in the same period last year. Domestic shipcalls stood at 116,940 during the period, while foreign shipcalls at 3,047.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. earlier reappointed Atty. Jay Daniel Santiago as general manager of PPA.
Santiago vowed to further improve and bring the country’s ports to even greater heights, both in terms of services and infrastructure, with special focus on his mandate for digitalization of port operations and management.
Santiago, who replaced PPA officer-in-charge general manager Francisquiel Mancile, served as PPA head during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Established in 1974 by Presidential Decree No. 505, the PPA is the primary government agency responsible for the planning, development, and operation of the country’s ports or port districts.