By Imee Charlee C. Delavin, Reporter
THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has taken over the management and operations of Malalag port in Davao del Sur to upgrade the terminal and bring it to international standard as it positions the facility to become a third major international gateway.
In a statement, the port regulator said P500 million will be initially spent starting this year for the development of Malalag port, which lies on the Davao Gulf.
“The local government unit (LGU) of Malalag in Davao del Sur yielded the operations of the port to the PPA in order to give the terminal the much-needed facelift as it has been underdeveloped since the port was devolved to the LGU in May of 2000,” PPA said on Wednesday.
It noted that together with the local government of Malalag, the transfer was formalized through a Memorandum of Agreement signed by Mayor Peter Paul T. Valentin and PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago last month.
“With PPA now at the helm, much bigger infrastructure development for the terminal is in the offing to spur economic growth not only in Malalag (to help it) play a vital role in the economic boom in the province of Davao del Sur,” Mr. Santiago was quoted as saying.
“The Mayor already agreed to the proposed development of Malalag port, which will start at the end of this year, with an initial cost of P500 million,” he added.
In May of 2000, PPA devolved the management and operations of the port to the local government under Administrative Order No. 02-1998. Malalag has been operating the port past the expiry of its contract in July 2011.
However, under the control of the LGU, PPA said the physical infrastructure as well as dredging, physical land side infrastructure remained underdeveloped, prompting the need for PPA to step in.
Malalag port is in the southwest of Malalag Bay, 25 kilometers (km) from Digos and approximately 88 km south of Davao City.
Cargo handled at the port includes molasses, sugar, steel products, vehicles and heavy equipment, as well as general cargo.
The PPA had earlier announced it expects increased efficiency from ports with plans to further improve and develop major gateways around the country.
The other seaports that the government is looking to rehabilitate or upgrade include the Port of Iloilo, Abra de Ilog in Mindoro, and the port in General Santos City. It is also conducting the ongoing rehabilitation and construction of a passenger terminal building in Cagayan de Oro.
PPA reported that the volume of cargo passing through the country’s ports rose 12% in 2016 to 249.567 million metric tons mainly due to increased trade associated with the growing economy. It generated a P6.159 billion net profit, beating its target by 165%. The result was also up 8% against the P5.705 billion registered in 2015 driven by increases in Ro-Ro fees, berthing fees and vessel lay-up fees.
In the first quarter of 2017, volume of cargo grew 4.15% year on year, still mainly due to increasing trade and the growing economy but tempered by the mining industry crackdown.
