Some members of the Philippine Lower House conducted a 10-day port tour and inspection of the country’s Western and Eastern Nautical Highways that are under the Road Roll-on/Roll-Off (Ro-Ro) Transport System (RRTS).
The port activity, held from March 17 to March 27 in coordination with the Maritime Industry Authority and Philippine Ports Authority, was participated in by several legislators led by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Fariñas.
The event was for the lawmakers to personally experience the condition of the country’s transport facilities, specifically ports and ro-ro vessels, as well as the condition of roads leading to these facilities, according to transportation committee chairman and Catanduanes representative Cesar Sarmiento.
The inspection also aimed to determine the actions to be taken to address concerns the delegation observed during the tour.
Sarmiento said that being an islander himself, he knows well that majority of Filipinos use maritime transport to go to various parts of the country.
He added that seamless interchange between land transport and sea vessels through the use of the ro-ro system remains to be the most economical and the fastest way to go to and from various points in the country.
Alvarez denied that the 10-day trip was a junket at the public’s expense. He said the budget for the trip would not exceed the allowable fund for out-of-town committee hearings.
RRTS is a network of terminals linked by ro-ro vessels from Batangas port and on to any point in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. It is designed to improve and promote inter-island sea transportation in the Philippines.
According to an assessment report made by Marina in 2015, the Western Nautical Highway and Pan Philippine Highway are the two most successful and dynamic of the four highways under the RRTS.
The Eastern Nautical Highway, on the other hand, is the least successful and productive because no vessel is operating in the area as certain portions of the highway overlap with the Central Nautical and Pan Philippine Highway, particularly those located in Masbate and Surigao City.
The report added that factors affecting the success and productivity of nautical highways are conditions of the port facilities; infrastructure or road conditions going to port areas; proliferation of ports in one municipality; and level of economic activity or presence of tourist spots in the area.
Other congressmen who joined the tour included Senior Deputy Majority Floor Leader Juan Pablo Bondoc, public works and highways chairman Celso Lobregat, Johnny Pimentel, Divine Grace Yu, Manuel Dalipe, Arnolfo Teves Jr., Henry Oaminal, Aurelio Gonzales, Lawrence Furton, Strike Revilla, Henry Fernandez, and Alfonso Umali.
Legislators took off from Batangas to Caticlan, then moved to Kalibo and on to Iloilo. Other provinces and places visited were Bacolod, Dumaguete, Dapitan, Zamboanga del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon, and Davao City. The group spent their last day in Eastern Visayas and Bicol region, driving by land and taking ro-ro vessel trips that connect Visayas and Mindanao.
