23 DECEMBER 2021, MANILA – The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has extended financial and operational support to agencies and organizations now involved in relief and reconstruction efforts in areas devastated by Typhoon Odette.
PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago, under Memorandum Circular (MC) 23 dated 21 December 2021, directed all port managers, terminal operators, cargo handling operators, and shipping companies to give vehicles, equipment, people, and cargoes involved in the relief operations loading and unloading priority.
“We at the PPA are ready to respond to the needs of those affected by Typhoon Odette. We will make sure that the needed relief and recovery items and equipment get to where they are needed in the fastest possible time. We do not need any unnecessary delays in the delivery of relief items, especially when lives are at stake,” said GM Santiago.
The PPA also designated a special lane for the processing of required documents and clearances for cargoes, vehicles, and equipment involved in the relief operations.
The MC also gives berthing priority and waiver of entrance formalities to vessels used exclusively in the response, relief, and reconstruction operations.
Meanwhile, the PPA, under the same MC, also waives the payment of passenger terminal building (PTB) fees, and the payment of RO-RO terminal fees.
Santiago said the waiver of the PTB and RO-RO terminal fees will be valid for 30 days, or until January 20, 2022.
To recall, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Art Tugade earlier ordered concerned agencies, which include the PPA, to immediately implement measures to ensure the unhampered delivery of relief items to areas affected by “Odette.” The PPA was likewise ordered by Secretary Tugade to make sure that passengers who are left stranded by “Odette” at the various ports are accommodated.
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