The Department of Transportation (DOTr) assured on Monday, Oct. 28, that all of the country’s airports and seaports are now fully operational in the aftermath of the devastation caused by Typhoon Kristine in Luzon last week.
(Manila Bulletin file photo)
During a Palace press briefing, DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista said that save for some minor damages, the government has to spend around P100 to P110 million to repair the country’s seaports.
“Right now, all airports are operational. Wala namang mga major damages na nangyari doon sa mga airports natin (There were no major damages that happened to our airports). And, so far, lahat ito ay operational (these are all operational),” he added.
The DOTr chief, however, admitted that flights were cancelled on Oct. 21 until last weekend because of the typhoon, but was assured by airport and airline personnel that affected passengers were properly assisted.
He said the same of the seaports, stressing that all are operational though a total of around P110 million will be spent on repairing the minor damages inflicted by Typhoon Kristine on the seaports.
“Ang maraming naapektuhan na mga pasahero natin ay iyong doon sa, dito sa Sorsogon, iyong ating seaport from Sorsogon to Allen. Hanggang ngayon medyo mahaba pa rin iyong pila ng mga sasakay doon sa RoRo from Matnog to Allen (A lot of passengers were affected in Sorsogon, in our seaport from Sorsogon to Allen. Until now, the line of vehicles for the RoRo from Matnog to Allen is long),” Bautista reported.
“But, we are working closely with all the authorities, so that mapadali iyong pagbiyahe nung mga sasakyan (to ease the traffic for the vehicles),” he added.
While he did not give estimates as to when the trip on RoRo (roll-on/roll-off) will be back to normal, the DOTr secretary assured that they are on top of the situation.
In fact, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) already issued a memorandum to all bus operators to cease first their trips to Bicol, particularly the Matnog route because of the traffic.
Citing a radio report, Bautista said that the queue of vehicles to the RoRo is around 30 kilometers long.
“Kaya we are encouraging iyong mga bus operators na siguro i-monitor iyong situation doon (That’s why we are encouraging bus operators to monitor the situation there first) before allowing their buses to fly to those destinations,” he furthered.