PGMA inaugurates Ro-Ro facility in Samboan today

CEBU, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be in Cebu today to grace the launching of the roll-on roll off link from Samboan to Dapitan in Mindanao.

The president is arriving this afternoon in a fast craft vessel from Sibulan, Negros to inaugurate the RORO link of Lite Shipping Corporation under her Strong Republic Nautical Highway program.

Philippine Information Agency’s Fayette Riñen said Arroyo will be welcomed at the San Sebastian Port by Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, second district Rep. Pablo Garcia and Samboan Mayor Raymond Joseph Calderon.

Based on the work plan of the Department of Transportation and Communication for the SRNH for this year until the end of the president’s term in 2010, at least 15 RORO port projects are lined up for development, upgrading or rehabilitation and the Samboan Port is one of the recipients of the SRNH program of Arroyo.

These also include the five ports in Cebu that are found in Daanbantayan, Toledo City, Tabuelan, Bogo City and Punta Engaño in Lapu-Lapu City.

The proposed RORO port in the southern part of the province will become the sixth port in Cebu. It is expected to be completed in 2010 or before the term of Arroyo ends.

The other nine ports will be put up in Caticlan, Aklan; Dumangas, Iloilo; San Antonio, Sorsogon; Esperanza, Masbate; Naval, Biliran; Getafe, Bohol; Balud, Masbate; Taytay, Palawan; Ajuy, Iloilo and Ubay in Bohol.

The SRNH is an integrated set of highway segments and vehicular ferry routes which, considered in combination with other road and ferry routes not formally part of the SRNH, forms the backbone of a nationwide vehicle-accessible transport system. It is one of Arroyo administration’s major legacy projects.

This system reduces the usual travel time by 17 hours to the different key cities, enhances the accessibility of the prime tourist destinations, and minimizes the handling expenses of goods all over the country.

The 919-kilometer SRNH, which is one of the president’s priority programs to bring down the cost of inter-island shipment of goods and fare rate and boost domestic tourism, was opened to the public on April 12, 2003. — Jasmin R. Uy/WAB (THE FREEMAN)