150-seater boat added to Pasig River ferries

PASIG , Philippines — A month after the relaunch of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s Pasig River ferry service, an air-conditioned 150-seater boat will be added to the MMDA’s fleet.

The MMDA yesterday entered into an agreement with DITO Telecommunity and Nautical Transport Service Inc. for the agency to use the 150-seater airconditioned ferry boat built by NTSI and acquired by DITO.

The ferry boat would be used “within two to three weeks,” MMDA deputy chairman and overall chairman of the Pasig River ferry service Frisco San Juan told reporters.

It would be the first time that a private firm like DITO – owned by a consortium of two of Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy’s companies and a state-run Chinese telecommunications firm – would “help us make use” of the ferry boat to help make the Pasig River ferry system operational, he added.

The ferry boat, run by a diesel engine, would also be equipped with television sets, a toilet and internet connection, said NTSI president Eduardo Bondad.

MMDA chief of staff and deputy chair for the ferry service Michael Salalima said the addition of the ferry boat to its fleet of seven could boost the existing ridership record of 1,000 passengers a day.

Of the seven boats, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto lent two that could hold 57 commuters.

The Pasig River ferry service – plying the 25-kilometer stretch of the Pasig River with 11 stations in Manila, Pasig, Makati and Mandaluyong – could ease the problem of road traffic, Salalima said.