State-run Philippine Ports Authority said Wednesday passenger volume in the third quarter grew 233.54 percent from a year ago amid the easing of travel restrictions.
Latest data from the PPA showed that passenger traffic reached 15.71 million from July to September, up from 4.71 million passengers who passed through Philippine ports last year.
Container traffic also increased 9.7 percent to 2.03 million twenty-foot equivalent units in the third quarter from 1.85 million TEUs last year.
Domestic boxes handled at the ports rose 9.47 percent to 759,884 TEUs from 694,142 TEUs, while foreign boxes went up 10.4 percent to 1.27 million TEUs from 1.15 million TEUs handled in the same period last year.
The PPA said of the total foreign boxes, import volume contributed 650,106 TEUs, while export boxes chipped in 629,381 TEUs, or an increase of 10.75 percent and 10.08 percent respectively.
Ship calls went up 29.9 percent to 119,977 in the third quarter from 92,359 in the same period last year. Domestic ship calls reached 116,940, while foreign ship calls totaled 3,047.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier reappointed Atty. Jay Daniel Santiago as the general manager of PPA.
Santiago vowed to further improve and bring the country’s ports to greater heights, both in terms of services and infrastructure, with a special focus on digitalization of port operations and management.
Santiago served as the PPA head during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Established in 1974 by Presidential Decree No. 505, the PPA is the primary government agency responsible for the planning, development and operation of the country’s ports or port districts. Darwin G. Amojelar