PH's biggest passenger port terminal opening March

The passenger terminal of the Port of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, which will be the country's largest after its P353 million expansion, will open this March, Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) general manager Jay Santiago announced.

So far, the expansion of the terminal, which will boost its capacity from 800 to 3,500 passengers, is 98 percent complete.

The PPA GM recently inspected the terminal, which comes with a prayer room, breastfeeding station, children playroom, clinic, plus modern elevators and escalators.

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The expansion is expected to be finished next month, in time for its March opening, coinciding with summer's peak travel demand.

"This will be the biggest terminal building when it opens, but only for a short while," said GM Santiago.

"After that, the one in Zamboanga will be the biggest,” he noted.

The Port of Zamboanga terminal, which is slated to be opened within 2023, will have a capacity for 4,500 passengers after its over P300 million expansion.

The government is expanding the capacities of passenger terminals nationwide to cater to increasing demand, according to the PPA GM.

Seabound passenger volume is expected to rise 20 percent this year.

Already, the recovery of the travel market pushed domestic sea passenger traffic from 4.71 million in the third quarter of 2021 to 15.72 million in the same period last year.