DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines—Pangasinan will soon have an international seaport after the Department of Transportation and Communications gave it the green light to construct the facility in Sual town.

Gov. Amado Espino Jr. said Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza, in their recent conversation, had told him that he had already given his approval to start construction.

The project will be a joint venture with the national government, and the host province and town will fund and manage the construction and operations of the port, Espino said.

Under the scheme, the provincial government and the Sual government will have a counterpart of P200 million and P100 million, respectively, while the national government’s Philippine Ports Authority and the DOTC will shell out P100 million each.

“This is a long overdue project, a dream that is coming true,” Espino said.

He said it was ironic that fuel and fertilizer are unloaded at Poro Point in San Fernando City in La Union, or in Subic, Zambales, although Pangasinan had over 60 percent share of demand of these products in the Ilocos region.

He said the seaport would be built in a new location in the Sual Bay, a cove and a natural harbor that opens up to the Lingayen Gulf and to the international navigational lanes in the South China Sea.

“It will be parallel to the existing port of the [Sual] coal-fired power plant. But it will have service areas,” he said.

With the seaport, Espino said the province would gain huge benefits like employment opportunities, tapping of support services, building of new industries, exporting of mineral products and “opening of new windows of other opportunities that will bring a lot of economic activities in Pangasinan.”

He said at least 20 locators had already signified their intention to set up businesses around the port. Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon