The country’s biggest Passenger Terminal Building in Calapan City , which was inaugurated on Monday, (March 27, is expected to provide convenience and comfort to passengers, especially during Holy Week. (Photo by Madonna T. Virola)
CITY OF CALAPAN — The Passenger Terminal Building (PTB) of the Port of Calapan, which is touted to be the biggest and most modern terminal in the country, was inaugurated on Monday, March 27, in this city.
Engineer Elvis Medalla, port manager at the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA)-Port Management Office Mindoro, described the facility as “world-class” as it would provide quality service while port passengers wait for their trips.
“Passengers may now enjoy the convenience offered by the PTB,” said Medalla during the occasion.
Constructed beginning March 2021 by the PPA at a P353-million fund, the three-story PTB covers a land area of 2,500 square meters and was designed to provide comfort and convenience to 3,500 passengers with clean and bigger restrooms, a prayer room, a breastfeeding station, a children’s playroom, a clinic, an elevator, and an escalator.
Among the guests was Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, who credited ordinary citizens, adding that “without them, all the projects and programs of the government would not be possible.”
The new PTB would be a game-changer for Mindoro passengers and travelers from Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan and other places, said Engineer Margarito Dimailig, PPA Project Management Office-Mindoro division manager of Engineering Services.
The Calapan Port is one of the busiest in the country and caters to a huge volume of passengers and rolling cargoes due to its proximity to the Strong Republic Nautical Highway in Oriental Mindoro, he said. The nautical highway links Luzon with Visayas and Mindanao.
The majority of PTB employees would come from other municipalities in the province and Calapan City, providing job opportunities to the locals, Dimailig added.
He said the PTB would play a major role in uplifting tourism in Mimaropa.
The PTB will be a tourist attraction on its own, featuring outside the walls of the terminal the Pakudos visual motifs, which are common elements of Mangyan arts and culture.
The PTB is among the 484 port projects undertaken by the Department of Transportation and the PPA since July 2016. INQ
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