Guimaras folk protest plan to hike port fee

ILOILO CITY, Philipppines—Officials of Guimaras Island threatened to sue the developer of a controversial ferry terminal if it collected an P11 terminal fee for passengers going from Iloilo to Guimaras.

“It’s too much for us especially for students who take ferry boats every day to Iloilo,” said Mayor Eugene Reyes, of Buenavista town, the biggest among five municipalities of the province.

Reyes said he is also opposing the P30 docking fee per boat that will be charged by the developer of the Guimaras-Iloilo Ferry Terminal.

“This will have a domino effect and prices of food and goods that are transported from Iloilo will also increase,” Reyes told Inquirer.

He said other mayors and provincial officials, led by Gov. Samuel Gumarin, would file charges in court if the fees are collected by DoubleDragon Properties Corp., the developer of the terminal complex on a 1.3-hectare government land near the port of Iloilo.

The amount of the terminal and berthing fees are provided in the 25-year joint venture agreement between the Iloilo City government and DoubleDragon.

The agreement grants exclusive rights to the developer to collect terminal, berthing and cargo fees. The developer can also sub-lease or rent out commercial spaces within the terminal complex.

Under the agreement, DoubleDragon will finance, construct and operate the P135-million ferry terminal complex which would be turned over to the city government after the expiration of the agreement. The agreement can be extended for another 25 years.

The project has come under fire from Guimaras officials and even Iloilo City councilors for lack of consultation with Guimaras officials and residents. The critics are questioning the terms of revenue sharing between the developer and the city government.
Guimaras Vice Gov. Vicente de Asis said the rate was “too much and unjust for Guimarasnons.”

He said many of the 200,000 residents of the island are dependent on fishing and farming.

At least 3,000 residents are employed by the provincial and five municipal governments. They, too, would be given additional burden if the terminal fee is collected.

The terminal fee is almost the same as boat fare from Iloilo City to several towns in Iloilo province which costs from P12 to P15.

De Asis said students and senior citizens should be exempt from paying the terminal fee.

He said the terminal fee should also be reduced from P11 to as low as P1.

At least 120,000 passengers use the city port daily. If terminal fee is increased to P11, this would translate to P47.5 million a year.

“DoubleDragon can recoup its investments in just three to five years from terminal fees alone,” De Asis said.

He said DoubleDragon can afford to collect a much lower terminal fee and spare many Guimaras residents because the developer stands to earn from commercial spaces that it will lease.

In an earlier statement, the developer said it “is and has always been with good intentions in bringing into the city a world-class ferry terminal project with commercial complex that every Iloilo and Guimaras resident can be proud of.”

DoubleDragon is a joint venture between Injap Investments Inc., headed by Edgar Sia II, founder of the Mang Inasal food chain, and HoneyStar Holdings Corp., headed by Tony Tan Caktiong, founder and chair of Jollibee Foods Corp.