DOTr pushes for mandatory online ticketing in domestic shipping

DOTr pushes for mandatory online ticketing in domestic shipping
Roumina Pablo December 29, 2025 https://portcalls.com/dotr-pushes-for-mandatory-online-ticketing-in-dome...

Transport Secretary Giovanni Lopez supports and is intent on pushing for the mandatory use of online ticketing systems by domestic shipping lines, according to Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) general manager Jay Daniel Santiago.

Lopez has instructed maritime agencies PPA, Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to “study a framework by which yung mga digitalization and online ticketing… can be implemented, can be mandated (to) shipping lines,” Santiago said in a recent press briefing.

Santiago said Lopez “wants a more holistic approach” in implementing online ticketing and wants all three maritime agencies involved in the legal framework.

PPA has been pushing for the mandatory implementation of online ticketing by domestic shipping lines in order to resolve issues faced by seagoing passengers in acquiring tickets for their sea travel, such as long queues at ticketing booths, and ticket scalping and “fixers”.

The agency has a proposed system – the Electronic Terminal Management System (ETMS) – but implementation has been on hold for years.

Relatedly, PortCalls obtained a copy of a draft MARINA memorandum circular (MC) on rules and regulations in the mandatory implementation of online ticketing system for inter-island passenger ships operating in major routes of the Philippine Nautical Highway System.

The proposed MC aims to institutionalize the use of online ticketing systems, promote digital transformation and operational efficiency in the maritime transport passenger sector, and enhance transparency, accountability, and customer service in ticketing operations, preventing overbooking, ticket scalping, and fraudulent transactions.

Under the draft, all domestic shipowners/operators with an existing online ticketing system must comply with the required functionalities provided in the MC.

Those without an existing online ticketing system may develop and operate their own through official websites or third-party vendors or may have an option to utilize PPA’s ETMS.

Stakeholders were asked to give comments on the draft early this December.

MARINA administrator Sonia Malaluan earlier said they are studying whether to make online booking and ticketing systems for domestic shipping passengers mandatory.

Since online systems entail investment costs and some already have invested in their own systems, Malaluan said their thrust is that it “should be a business decision” on whether the shipping operators will continue to use or create their own system, get third party service providers, or subscribe to the ticketing system of PPA.

In 2020, PPA conducted pilot testing of its ETMS project and planned for a 2021 full roll out.

The ETMS aims to “provide a digitized and systematized process of recording and simultaneous submission of passenger manifest and vessel voyage information which can effectively be scaled and extended to support future phases of the terminal management process at the PPA port terminals.” It will require domestic shipping lines to use the ETMS, or integrate their own existing system to the PPA system.

In February 2022, PPA signed the contract with the winning bidder for its ETMS project but implementation was suspended sometime in 2022.

Last April, then Transport secretary Vince Dizon announced that PPA will soon finally roll out its ETMS but has so far not pushed through.

The ETMS project is pursuant to PPA Administrative Order (AO) No. 12-2019, which was issued on November 18, 2019 to provide the rules for implementing a central ticketing system, an online application procedure that would support an integrated vessel booking, and payment system for roll-on/roll-off ports.

The Philippine Inter-Island Shipping Association (PISA), however, wants AO 12-2019 scrapped claiming it is without legal basis, redundant, and detrimental to the shipping industry.

In a letter to the Department of Transportation last April, PISA said AO 12-2019 is “an unnecessary and intrusive measure that disregards existing private-sector solutions, disrupts business operations, and raises serious concerns about government overreach, data privacy, and economic inefficiencies.”

PISA argued though that PPA does not have the authority to issue AO 12-2019 because its charter under Presidential Decree No. 857 “does not empower the PPA to regulate the processing, booking, or collection of payments from passengers” and its rule-making authority does not extend its power to private business transactions.

PISA added that most shipping companies already have working online ticketing systems “that efficiently manage bookings, payments, and passenger data.” PISA also cited as example booking platform Barkota, which it said is “already successfully integrated into major ferry operators, which makes PPA’s intervention redundant and unnecessary.”