Around 674,000 passengers are expected to troop to various ports across the country over the weekend as the long Holiday break ends, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said on Thursday, Jan. 2.
But PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago assured that all their personnel are ready for the influx of people from Jan. 3 to 5 when those who went to the provinces for a Holiday break return to their workplaces and schools.
“We have long prepared for this. Our personnel remain on heightened alert and all the leaves of absence remain cancelled until such time that the situation normalizes,” said Santiago.
Around 3,000 PPA personnel and augmentation forces from law enforcement units and other agencies were deployed in various ports across the country, most of them are in large ports like the Batangas, Bohol, Davao City, Negros Oriental/Siquijor and Bicol.
Santiago said additional security and assistance efforts include the presence of help desks, deployment of K-9 units and ensuring that all CCTVs are working.
Based on the PPA data, the passenger traffic in all PPA-run ports reached 3.6 million from Dec. 15 to Jan. 2.
Around 647,000 passengers are expected to troop to PPA-run ports from Jan. 3 to 5, the expected return of all the remaining people who went to the provinces to take advantage of the long Holiday break.
For Friday, Jan. 3 the expected passenger traffic is 314,000 while the big bulk of the returning passengers will on Saturday, Jan. 4 with around 265,000. Around 94,000 are expected on Sunday, Jan. 5.
The PPA earlier said it expects 4.58 million passengers from Dec. 15, 2024 to Jan. 5, 2025 which is higher compared to the Dec. 15, 2023 to Jan. 5, 2024 data with 4.36 million.
LTO urges motorists to be safe
For his part, Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Assistant Secretary Vigor D. Mendoza II urged motorists to take extra caution on the road as a large number of people are expected to hit the road to go back to their workplaces and schools over the weekend as the long Holiday break ends.
Mendoza said he already tasked all Regional Directors and heads of other LTO offices to ensure the presence of more enforcers on the road in order to assist in the traffic management and in enforcing road safety rules and regulations.
“Our personnel, in coordination with other government agencies, will be on the ground to assist our kababayan on their way back to Metro Manila and other urban areas as the long Holiday break ends,” said Mendoza.
“We expect a huge volume of motor vehicles on the road leading to Metro Manila and other urban areas so we have to make our presence felt in order to ensure the safety of everybody as they travel back,” he added.