AN ADDITIONAL roll on/roll off (roro) facility and a wider cargo back-up deck area inaugurated Friday, Aug. 25, 2023, at the Port of Maya in Daanbantayan are expected to bring not only visitors to the northern Cebu municipality but also new employment and investment.
Daanbantayan Mayor Sun Shimura expressed hope that the port improvement will increase economic activities in his town, the northernmost in Cebu, considering its geographical proximity to Southern Luzon and Eastern Visayas.
Department of Transportation (DOTr) Assistant Secretary Julius Yano, Cebu Port Authority (CPA) General Manager Francisco Commendador and key officials, Department of Tourism (DOT) 7 officials, partner port stakeholders and Daanbantayan officials were on hand for the inauguration of the Reinforced Concrete Deck with Roro Ramp on Friday, hailed as a major seaport development project in the Port of Maya.
The project cost P119.9 million, with the CPA using its corporate budget to fund the 1,937-square-meter reinforced concrete deck with roro ramp.
The new roro ramp, which can accommodate two roro vessels, triples the roro docking capacity of the port.
Gateway
Both the CPA and Daanbantayan Municipal Government expect the port improvement to increase vessel traffic, improve cargo handling efficiency, and promote commercial growth in the municipality and adjacent towns and cities.
“You have not only promoted connectivity but also boosted the development of communities that rely on the sea,” said the DOTr’s Yano.
The seaport is a major gateway to Malapascua Island in Cebu, Kalanggaman Island in Leyte, Calbayog City in Samar and recently added a route to Matnog, Sorsogon in Luzon, and other popular tourist destinations.
“Seen to increase trade and competitiveness of the local economy as this attracts more investments with increased vessel and passenger traffic and creates direct and indirect employment opportunities for trade, production and tourism for the local communities,” said the CPA’s Commendador.
Maya Port is one of the 16 seaports operated and managed by the CPA in the province of Cebu.
More routes soon
In an interview with SunStar Cebu on Friday, Shimura expressed his gratitude to the DOTr and CPA for the realization of the improvement, whose construction he had requested in the pre-pandemic years.
Shimura said the additional roro ramp with a berthing capacity of two vessels was placed on the right side, in between the newly extended cargo deck in the center and the old roro ramp on the left side.
The placement of the old and new roro ramps across each other was designed to allow vessels to dock and defend themselves against strong waves and winds brought either by the Amihan or Northeast monsoon and Habagat or Southwest monsoon, he said.
“During the Northeast monsoon, the vessels will be on the left side of the port. If Southwest monsoon, the vessels will dock on the right side,” said Shimura.
In June 2020, the Port of Maya had its first roro ramp that could accommodate one roro vessel at a time, opening the seaport to bigger ships that connect northern Cebu to neighboring regions and areas of the Visayas and Luzon.
A Lite Ferries cargo and passenger vessel made its maiden voyage to Calbayog City in Samar Province following the completion of the first roro ramp.
This year, Lite Shipping Corp. (operator of Lite Ferries roro ships) added a brand-new ferry on the Cebu-Sorsogon route via the Port of Maya and Matnog Port, Shimura said.
“At first, the trip to Matnog in Sorsogon, Luzon’s gateway, was just once a week. In less than a month, it was made twice a week. Now, Lite Shipping plans to make the trips daily starting next month because the port is already very nice,” he said.
Shorter travel time
The mayor added that it is an opportunity for their residents and visitors traveling either for business or leisure to have a much shorter travel time from northern Cebu to destinations in Luzon such as Masbate and Sorsogon, and Eastern Visayas such as Samar, and even Leyte.
Shimura said the development was patterned after the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH) of the former administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2003.
“As you can see, the roads in the fourth district going to our town are wide since it was the direction of that administration to create a nautical highway,” Shimura said.
The SRNH is an integrated network of roads and ports intended to connect the major islands of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, cut travel time to key cities, promote tourism and minimize the handling of goods as the backbone of a nationwide vehicle transport system.
Future development
The mayor told SunStar Cebu that his administration is now coordinating with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the expansion of the passenger terminal to accommodate an expected increase in travelers entering and exiting his town.
“Among gihangyo ang DPWH nga maghimo og mga side development kay kita ang mohimo, ang LGU will be the one in-charge in building the passenger terminal,” said Shimura.
(We requested the DPWH to make side developments, as the local government unit will be the one in charge of building the passenger terminal.)
He said the new terminal will feature amenities that can also accommodate future new routes such as Cebu-Batangas via Maya Port.
Shimura told SunStar Cebu that after the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo on Sunday, Aug. 27, he plans to meet with the executives of a huge bus company in Cebu on the possibility of such a trip going to Batangas in the succeeding years.
In connection with this, the mayor voiced plans to invite manufacturing firms to locate in his town, particularly those producing feeds for chicken and hogs, due to the abundance of agricultural products, such as corn, in the municipality, since the town’s improved port will now bring its resources closer to Manila.
If realized, Shimura said, this will bring economic development not only in his town but also adjacent municipalities and cities as it will create jobs for the residents of northern Cebu.