THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) will introduce an improved system of ticketing for public sea vessels.

PPA General Manager Jay Santiago said Thursday, August 8, that they will be the one to issue tickets to passengers soon.

He said the new electronic system will aid them in monitoring the load of water vessels according to their capacity.

"Mamonitor natin yung isinasakay sa isang bangka o isang Roro (roll-on/roll-off) vessel ay eksakto lamang sa rehistradong kapasidad niya at hindi sumusobra dahil kung wala siyang ticket na naissue ng PPA, hindi siya papayagan ng Coast Guard at Marina na higit pa sa kanyang kapasidad," said Santiago.

(We can monitor whether the people or cargo loaded into the banca or roro are within the vessel's capacity, because if the vessel has no ticket from the PPA, the Philippine Coast Guard and Marina will not allow it to sail with a load beyond its capacity.)

He said the ticketing system will also prevent fixers from scalping or selling tickets at higher prices.

"Kung meron man nag-iiscalper diyan ng ticket sa labas, at para masigurado natin ang binabayarang plete ng ating mga mananakay ay eksakto lamang sa itinakdang regulasyon at hindi na kailangan nilang magbayad sa fixer at hindi sa sosobra pa ang babayaran nila sa nakatakdang pasahe lamang," he said.

(To find fixers who are scalping tickets and to make sure that passengers are paying the exact amount for tickets.)

Santiago said the new ticketing system will be implemented in all ports managed by the PPA.

As of now, he said they are in the "advanced stage of development" of the ticketing application.

“Hopefully, we should be able to pilot test [the new system] and do yung limited run sa selected ports ng PPA nationwide,” he said.

The PPA wants to pilot it in terminals with huge and small numbers of passengers to determine errors and correct them, he added. (SunStar Philippines)