Thousands of people still troop to PH ports for 'last-minute' travel for 'Undas'
Thousands of people continue to arrive in various ports across the country for a “last-minute’ attempt to join their families in observing the All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days, or Undas, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) disclosed on Tuesday, Oct. 31.
As of Tuesday, PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago said a significant number of passengers are still monitored in various ports across the country.
“The exodus of people to their respective provinces is still ongoing because some of our kababayan chose to go to their hometowns after the barangay elections. We have been expecting this so our safety and security measures are still in place,” said Santiago.
He said the “No Leave Policy” for all PPA personnel remain in effect.
Based on the PPA data, around 900,000 passengers were monitored in all ports of the country from Oct. 27 to Oct. 31.
The same data revealed the Batangas Port had the most number of passengers recorded from Oct. 27 to Oct. 30 with more or less 84,000 passengers; followed by the Calapan Port with around 79,000 passengers.
The Panay/Guimaras Port recorded 71,472 passengers in the same period, followed by Bohol Port with 65,317 passengers.
Santiago said that based on their monitoring of complaints in all ports, most of the passengers complained of glitches in the online ticketing system of shipping lines.
He said this glitch has resulted in the long lines in the ticketing system in ports.
“We are urging all the shipping lines to refrain from engaging in overbooking and always keep their passengers updated on the schedules,” said Santiago.
Santiago has been pushing for an e-ticketing platform of the PPA for a uniform online platform for booking sea travels across the country.