Bad road leads to shutdown of new port in Quezon

LUCENA CITY—With the opening of a new port in the southern tip of Quezon, it takes 12 hours of land and sea travel from Manila to move cargoes and passengers to Masbate instead of the average of 18 hours through the old route.

But trucks and buses have stopped using the new pier in San Andres town because they had to negotiate more than nine kilometers of bad road leading to it. From San Narciso town, the way is a punishing trip through mud or dust, depending on the weather.

“The road is still unpaved and was heavily damaged by heavy rain. It almost becomes impassable for heavy vehicles,” San Andres Mayor Sergio Emprese said over the phone last week.

Nine days after a roll-on, roll-off vessel of Starship Shipping Lines left on a maiden voyage to Masbate on March 27, the missionary route was shelved for lack of passengers. The company had planned to add three more vessels to service the route from San Andres to Masbate City, Aroroy town in Masbate mainland and San Pascual town on Burias Island.

The port, a project of Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez (third district), was opened in January.

Distinct edge

San Andres, 326 kilometers from Manila, is a fourth-class municipality (annual income: P25 million-P35 million) facing the Ragay Gulf. “Our port offers distinct advantages compared to other piers in Luzon in servicing the maritime route leading to Visayas and Mindanao,” Emprese said.

Other ports in Luzon servicing the Visayas Sea are too far from Manila compared to San Andres and thus, there are added costs for vehicle maintenance, consumption of more fuel, and longer travel time, he said. Pio Duran port in Albay is 495 km from Manila, Pilar (Sorsogon) port is 520 km and Bulan (Sorsogon) port is 576 km.

“Sea vessels can also leave our port anytime. No low tide to worry because of its inherent depth,” Emprese said.

A cargo truck driver acknowledged that the San Andres port is ideal for faster and more economical movement of products and passengers between Luzon and the Visayas, as well as Mindanao.

“We can reach Masbate faster. Besides, less land travel means less tong for all kinds of checkpoints along the route, particularly along the Quirino Highway,” the driver, who requested anonymity, said in an interview at a roadside eatery in Lucena City.

Suarez said all roads in the Bondoc Peninsula had long been cemented, except for the 9-km stretch. “It was not completed because of the change of the administration,” he said.

Suarez is a known ally of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and current House minority leader.

San Narciso Mayor Eleonor Uy said she met with Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson late last year to request the completion of the unpaved section. She also informed Singson in a letter dated April 16 that the San Andres port had ceased operation.

“Gravel road is becoming hardly passable, aggravated by unpredictable weather,” Uy said.

Since concreting of the road would take some time, the mayor asked the Department of Public Works and Highways to make available heavy equipment for road maintenance.

District engineer Rogelio Rejano said funding for the road work had been included in next year’s budget. But he insisted in a phone interview that “the road is passable even for heavy vehicles.”

He said there could be other reasons for the cessation of the port operation. He did not elaborate.