Arroyo calls for RORO revival, expansion

Arroyo calls for RORO revival, expansion
Ben Rosario January 18, 2019 https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/01/18/arroyo-calls-for-roro-revival-expansion/

Former President and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Friday called for the revival and expansion of the Roll-On, Roll-Off (RORO) transport, one of the projects discontinued by her successor, former President Benigno Aquino III.

Arroyo, currently on a trip to various parts of Visayas, said the RORO program has been proven to be important to travel, trade, and tourism. It was also considered a potent anti-poverty weapon in the countryside, she added.

“We built many RORO ports all over the country but mostly in the Visayas and I was so sad to hear a few years ago that the administration after mine discontinued the rest of the RORO port projects,” she said in a statement during her appearance at the 11th anniversary celebration of the Bacolod-Silay Airport, a project built and inaugurated during her administration in 2007.

In Silay, Speaker Arroyo was welcomed by Rep. Stephen Paduano, Negros Occidental Governor Fred Maranon, Silay Mayor Mark Golez, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Director General Jim Sydiongco, and officials from the Maritime Industry Authority, Philippine Ports Authority, Philippine Coast Guard, and the Department of Public Works and Highways.

The former chief executive welcomed incumbent President Duterte’s decision to revitalize the RORO system as he acknowledged its importance to trade and tourism.

In 2003, then President Arroyo spearheaded the creation of the Road RORO Transport System (RRTS), a project designed to carry rolling stock cargo that does not require cranes for loading.

The system was part of the 919-kilometer Strong Republic Nautical Highway that connected the major islands of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao through an integrated network of highway and vehicular ferry routes.

It was one of her administration’s priority programs to ensure fast and economical movement of goods and people, and to boost domestic tourism and trade.

The ADB, which had proposed the project, had said the RORO system cut the cost of the transport system and travel time in the Philippines.

Speaker Arroyo noted that the RORO system helped lower the poverty level in the country.

“When I assumed the presidency, the survey said 39 percent of all Filipinos were very poor. I believe that the RRTS has helped a lot to lift up some of the very poor from extreme poverty, as they were able to find jobs and now have some money to buy food and other necessities,” she said.

Under her administration, vital RORO routes from Luzon to Mindanao were constructed.