Government revisits 16-year-old Roro program: Selling Sailing

Selling Sailing
Jovee Marie de la Cruz -February 24, 2019 https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/02/24/selling-sailing/

Government revisits 16-year-old Roro program—assessing traffic and demand, reviewing costs and pitching new routes to interested private operators

WITH airports and seaports congested and the state of land traffic still in a sorry mess, lawmakers and regulators are moving to revive and expand the roll-on, roll-off (Roro) transport system, hoping the initiative—launched with much fanfare 16 years ago but subsequently trumped by politics—can spur countryside development, speed up commerce and lower the prices of goods in the country.

Former President and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo launched the Roro system during her presidency in 2003, which connected the three main islands of the Philippines, to speed up travel and increase trading among provinces.

It was not surprising, then, that she personally gave the matter her personal attention—and known fastidiousness for detail—when a House committee began an inquiry into the state of the Roro network and why, despite its best intentions, it was resulting in even higher logistics costs for business.

The Roro was developed pursuant to Executive Order 170. It was developed to connect Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao to reduce the high cost of transporting people, goods and services through an integrated national highway system.

Arroyo recently said the government should revitalize and expand the Roro to further spur growth in the regions.

According to Arroyo, the Roro system has helped reduce the poverty level in the country.

She added 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.

“When I assumed the presidency, the survey said 39 percent of all Filipinos were very poor. I believe that the RRTS [Road Roro terminal system] 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.

However, the succeeding Aquino administration canceled most of the Roro projects approved during Arroyo’s time.

Arroyo said it was good the administration of President Duterte had decided to revitalize the Roro system, citing its importance to trade and tourism.

“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.

“I am happy that the Roro system is being revitalized because of the positive impact it has [made] on the lives of the people,” Arroyo added.

Moreover, there is a need to expand the Roro system in the country since airports and ports have already become congested, the Speaker pointed out.

Noting the Roro system’s proven importance in travel and trade and tourism, Arroyo recently convened an Oversight Committee on the Roro in the House of Representatives to determine the status of the country’s ports and how to improve them.
Incentives

During the 17th Congress’s inspection of the Roro system, Committee on Transportation Chairman Cesar Sarmiento said his committee has already recommended to the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) to incentivize or encourage the operators to modernize their fleet and promote vessels that are suitable to the country’s water terrain and weather conditions.

“We also recommended to the Philippine Ports Authority [PPA] to coordinate with Marina in clearly delineating their roles and actions in the development of the Roro system,” he said.

Lawmakers observed some gaps in the vessel route-port scheme, i.e., there are routes which must be served but are not, because of inexistent or underdeveloped ports to receive such vessels.

“We found out that, though the whole system is strong and intact, there are various issues relating to connectivity, adequacy of passenger lounges and parking areas, conditions of the Roro vessels and efficiency of port operations, facilities and traffic flow,” he said.

Based on such information, Sarmiento said House Resolution 940 was filed to strongly urge the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to rationalize routes that will end at and connect to the ports and ensure local transportation connectivity for passengers.

“For Marina, we reiterated the need for seaworthy and passenger-convenient vessels and for a more time-efficient system of ship arrival and departure schedules,” he added.

“The PPA should address the lack of facilities in our ports, including ensuing future designs of terminal to take into consideration the safety and convenience of the passengers,” said Sarmiento.

According to Sarmiento, the House also urged the Department of Finance, Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs to resolve the delay in the processing of documentation and benefits for new Roro vessels covered by the Domestic Shipping Act.
New routes

Meanwhile, Arroyo asked the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to revise its proposed development of the Roro transport system after most of the new routes being pushed were found to be already existing or are being serviced by shipping lines in nearby ports.

Arroyo said most of the 30 proposed new Roro routes under the DOTr’s Maritime Industry Development Plan (MIDP) have already existing ports or are being serviced by other shipping lines.
Missionary routes

Having launched the system in 2003, Arroyo went over each of the 30 proposed new routes to determine why 16 years later, the new routes remain unserved by the system.

However, going through them one by one, she said it was established that most of them are already being served by shipping lines in nearby ports or there are already existing port facilities.

Arroyo also suggested that for ports that are unserved because of lack of operators, the DOTr should give missionary routes to shipping lines. A missionary route is an incentive given to a shipping line to service a new route exclusively for five years.

For the missionary routes, Arroyo said, “I don’t think you need an executive order for that. You know, when I was President, not everything was done by executive order. The departments had a lot of leeway because you don’t want to clog Malacañang with executive orders.”

She recalled: “Nobody wanted to take it so we just forced someone to take it and now they have a trip every hour. The incentive we gave for them to take it was it was a missionary route, so they were given the privilege of being the sole operator for five years, so it worked because since then there is a trip every hour on that route.”
Nautical highway

The Road Roro Transport System was 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, the Visayas and Mindanao through an integrated network of highway and vehicular ferry routes.

The Asian Development Bank, which proposed the project, had said the Roro system cut the cost of the transport system and travel time in the Philippines.

In all, the Arroyo administration laid out 49 Roro routes from Luzon to Mindanao. Today, there are a total 140 Roro routes all over the country—cutting travel time, promoting tourism and increasing trade.

According to Transportation Undersecretary Fernando Juan Perez, from 2003 to 2010, there were 49 Roro operators but during the period 2010 to 2016, there were no new Roro operators.

From 2016 to the present, there were new 18 operators, bringing the total of Roro operators to 67, he said.

The Roro system has three routes: the Western Nautical Highway, Eastern Nautical Highway and Central Nautical Highway. These cover the provinces and cities of Tagaytay and Batangas City of Region 4A, Marinduque, Romblon and Oriental Mindoro in Luzon. Also covered are Aklan, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Cebu and Bohol in the Visayas. There is also a route from Luzon going to Palawan. Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte and Zamboanga del Norte in Mindanao are also part of the route.
Marina: 21 routes open to operators

Besides the oversight committee, the House Committee on Transportation created a technical working group (TWG) to assess the status of Roro Port System missionary routes.

The TWG, to be chaired by Arroyo, shall oversee the Marina, as it acts on the committee’s suggestion to sell to the private sector the Roro routes that are not being plied.

Marina OIC Administrator Vice Adm. Narciso Vingson Jr. told lawmakers that the agency has identified 21 missionary Roro routes that may be sold to private operators.

He assured the House that Marina will issue an advisory to the private sector to inform them of the availability of the routes.

The panel also continued its evaluation of the Marina 10-Year Maritime Industry Development Plan (MIDP), which covers the period of 2019 to 2028.

Arroyo said the TWG will conduct a case study on the effects of shipping costs on the prices of goods.

House Transportation panel chief Sarmiento said the briefing on the status of the Roro system aims to determine its status and the ways to improve, expand or revive the same.

“This is in accordance with the directive of leadership of the lower chamber who promoted the Strong Republic Nautical Highway project since 2003 that led to lower cost of freight and passenger transport, shorter travel time, and the introduction of new inter-island connections,” Sarmiento said.

Marina’s presentation of its 10-Year Maritime Industry Development Program showed there are remaining 30 routes that are still unserved and are part of the MIDP to be covered and developed.

After the presentation, the Speaker asked Marina to go back to the 10-year plan to see what ports are involved.

The Speaker, meanwhile, also recommended the exclusion from the list of unserved ports for reasons such as 1) the operation of another nearby port; 2) there is no vessel and it is more convenient for motorists to go by land; and 3) because of environmental factors like the presence of butanding in the case of Pilar, Sorsogon, among others.

She told Marina that there is no need to include these routes so as to lessen the expenditure.