BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO CITY – The Bureau of Customs (BOC) – Port of Iloilo in Western Visayas expects the operations of the Iloilo Commercial Port Complex (ICPC) by the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) will further boost their import and export services.
During the recent meeting with Mayor Jerry Treñas and several stakeholders, BOC-Iloilo District Collector Julius Premediles voiced confidence the redevelopment and operations of the new container terminal will enhance their operations, especially on import and export services.
Premediles said they are eager to serve international container arrivals through the new management of Visayas Container Terminal.
“We are ready to serve various international container arrivals directly to Iloilo from different economic hubs of the world,” said Premediles.
For 2024, the BOC reported almost half a billion pesos in revenues to government expenditures via the internal revenue allotment of various municipalities in the region.
The BOC in Western Visayas claimed to have surpassed the revenue target for January and February this year.
In the first quarter of 2023, the BOC Iloilo collected P446 million for March 2023 with 43.36 million, or a 10.77 percent increase compared to the month’s target revenue of P402.67 million.
Velma Lao, head of the city’s Business Process and Licensing Division (BPLD), said the BOC – Port of Iloilo clarified during their meeting with Mayor Treñas and other stakeholders the latter is ready to receive containers from various countries to and from other countries in the Visayas Container Terminal, which has modern and state-of-the-art equipment to carry out its functions.
“They have control supervising containerized cargo and import and export movements of cargoes in Region 6. They also conduct prevention and suppression of smuggling and supervision of foreign vessels and aircraft,” said Lao.
She said the BOC Iloilo can approve and release two to three days upon completion of documents for containers.
The Razon-led port operator won the bidding for being the lone bidder after passing the technical and financial requirements, Jay Daniel Santiago, Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) general manager, recently announced
In a letter, Santiago informed Treñas that the ICTSI passed the technical and financial requirements to implement the project, which will be renamed Visayas Container Terminal after finalizing the contract. ICTSI will soon start operating the port after getting a notice to proceed from the PPA.
The commercial port spans 627 meters of operational quay length and 20 hectares of land for container and general cargo storage, warehousing, and other cargo-handling activities. It serves the province of Iloilo and Panay Island in Western Visayas.
Data from PPA showed that cargo throughput in Visayas reached 38.1 million metric tons in January to September last year, or about 19 percent of the total cargo volume across the country during the period.
Mayor Treñas welcomed the development, saying it would spur economic development in the city.
“The improvement of our port facilities will pave the way for more international container ship arrivals. It will also have a significant impact on the economic growth of the city and the region,” Treñas said.
As chair of the Infrastructure Development Committee of the Regional Development Council (RDC) 6, Treñas said he had been calling for the redevelopment of the port complex into a modern, efficient, and premier gateway not only for Iloilo but the whole of Western Visayas./PN
