PPA takes over Poro Point seaport administration

The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has taken over the administration and management of the Poro Point seaport in San Fernando, La Union upon the order of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC).

The DOTC stripped the Poro Point Industrial Corp. (PPIC), a private port operator, of its power to manage the facility after San Fernando City Mayor Jane Ortega filed a complaint at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which subsequently issued a cease and desist order.

The local chief executive held PPIC accountable, along with its partner Poro Point Management Corp. (PPMC), for violating several environmental laws, among them the absence of an environmental clearance certificate (ECC) since it started operating in 1999.

The PPA’s assumption of the seaport management was widely hailed as a welcome development in the long struggle waged by the major stockholders, such as businessmen, ship owners, cargo receivers, and shipping agencies against the PPIC.

The timely intervention of the DENR as well as the DOTC is expected to restore normal operations and increase revenues in this prime seaport in Luzon which is being groomed to become the country’s air-and-seaport gateway to the north.

The PPA, however, ignored the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in La Union on Monday, favoring PPIC.

The TRO prevented the PPA from taking over the operations of the seaport as ordered by Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza on Saturday through the request of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) and its subsidiary, the PPMC.

Avelino Munar, PPA port operations manager, told The STAR that they are not covered by the TRO because they are not part of the contract between the PPIC and BCDA.

"We (PPA) respect the TRO but we cannot be restrained from performing our government functions because we are not covered by the order. We are not part of the contractual rights of PPIC and BCDA. The port is a government facility and we are tasked to operate it," Munar said.

Renato Venturina, PPIC manager, told The STAR that they will insist on their rights and will not leave the area because it is a private property.

Venturina said the PPA should abide with the TRO because they are merely asked by the BCDA to takeover but they could not do so because there is a court injunction ordering a status quo.

He said PPIC is losing millions in the aborted operations of the port and there are already consignees complaining about the problem because they are also losing millions in revenue.

PPIC personnel also complained that the police and Coast Guard authorities are not neutral on the issue because they did not honor the TRO and favored the PPA instead.

The STAR learned that PPA turned over the facility to BCDA in 1997, which later signed a partnership with the PPIC in 1998 to develop the seaport and manage its operation.

A DENR probe, however, revealed that the failure of PPIC to address issues regarding the potential impact of surface runoff and other discharges from seaport operations are posing threats to the quality of water along the San Fernando Bay.

In 1999, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), during the time of President Joseph Estrada, signed a memorandum of agreement with PPIC for the utilization, development, operation, management, and administration of the 30-hectare seaport.

The MOA included the development of the 50-hectare industrial area, as well as all reclamation works within the project area.

Under the agreement, PPIC was to remit a fixed annual revenue of P50 million to the government for 10 years without any increase. — With Jun Elias