The Department of Agriculture is pursuing a four-year development plan converting over a dozen ill-equipped seaports across the islands into agri-logistics hubs at the cost of P30.1 billion.
According to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel Jr, seven of the identified seaports will require funding under the 2024 budget of P4.2 billion. Four of the recipients include the fish port in Davao, General Santos, Iloilo and Zamboanga. The other three include the deep-water ports in Cebu, Palawan and Surigao City.
The proposed conversion requires the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) to deepen the access channels to the ports to accommodate fully-laden Panamax vessels and build silos, cold storage, agricultural processing areas, cargo handling facilities, quays, shipyards, fuel depots and pipelines.
Tiu Laurel a chairman of the PFDA board recently met with the management team to discuss development plans converting the regional ports into entry and exit points for agricultural items that reduce the cost of transporting farm and fishery products across the islands.
In meeting with the Federation of Free Farmers, Tiu-Laurel highlighted the need to address the transport and distribution of goods from areas where they are abundantly produced to where demand for such goods is high.
The exercise also included plans for transporting inputs to areas they are most needed to reduce food production and distribution costs while increasing farmer and fishermen’s incomes even as they result in lower food prices.
According to Tiu-Laurel, the cost of pursuing this objective requires the PFDA to spend P6.04 billion this year and another P24.08 billion next year.
This year’s budget will finance the deep water port development in Jose Panganiban, Camarines Norte; Pagudpud, llocos Norte; Bongao, Tawi-Tawi; San Jose, Occidental Mindoro; Cataingan, Masbate; Infanta, Quezon; Pantao, Albay; Kalmansig, Sultan Kudarat; Bataan; Mati City, Davao Oriental; and Cadiz, Negros, he said.
