Port terminal fee defended

Cebu Port Authority general manager Mariano Martinez has defended the collection of a P10 terminal fee, as he assured the city council that his office is continuously working to improve its present system.

In his letter to the city council dated July 23, Martinez explained that at present his office is still in the transition stage in the implementation of the mandatory use of passenger terminals in pursuant to CPA Memorandum Circular No. 11-2005 as they geared up towards its "full implementation" last August 1.

He said the Baseport of Cebu is currently working with "29 berthing window capacity due to the decommissioning of Berths 31 to 33 as a result of the Metro Cebu Development Plan III, specifically the south coastal road component of the said project, and the use of Berth 30 by the Malacañang sa Sugbu. As a result, Martinez said CPA is constrained to implement security measures due to a very limited working space.

Nevertheless, they are continuously working on improving its security measures at par with the current port security standards as set forth in the International Code for the Security of Ships and Port Facilities. CPA has been certified ISPS compliant in July 2004.

With this certification, the port authority moved on from upgrading its international port to improving its security measures at the domestic port.

It started with construction of the security fence inside the baseport to separate the working areas from the road lanes as well as to prevent the entry of unnecessary entities, as the latter only increase the security risk inside the port area considering that the baseport is congested with ambulant vendors and the like.

Then came the construction of the passenger terminals and the fielding of shuttle buses to ferry the passengers to and from the vessels.

"We have implemented the use of the passenger terminals and the shuttle bus rides to ensure the safety and comfort of these passengers and at the same time maintain a systematic order in their conveyance to and from the ships," Martinez' letter read.

Further, Martinez pointed out they are now strictly regulating the issuance of terminal fee ticket as it has been observed that this has already been used unscrupulously by unauthorized persons.

Martinez' letter to the city council is in response to the proposed resolution of councilor Arsenio Pacaña adopted by the city council last July 6, directing CPA to undertake a comprehensive review of the terminal fees collection.

This is following the complaints of many passengers on the port policy in relation to the required payment of ticket fees for the use of "passenger terminal" in pier 2 even in the absence of a terminal outpost as a pre-requirement for boarding passenger boats or vessels.

Aside from this, it has been reported that passengers of vessels docking at pier 2 are greatly inconvenienced as the terminal tickets are issued only either at pier 1 or 3.

But while the port officials charge P10 representing terminal fee for each passenger, the cost of transportation, which is by trisikad, amounts to a total P60 since a one-way trip costs P30.

Also, some passengers revealed there are unscrupulous persons in pier 2 that are taking advantage of the situation by peddling higher terminal tickets to those who do not want to be inconvenienced by going to either pier 1 or 3. - Cristina C. Birondo