PGMA orders provision of more comfort rooms in port terminals
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has directed the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to oblige the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to build more comfort rooms and coffee shops in all port terminals in the country for the convenience of hundreds of passengers who usually get stranded during bad weather and tropical storms.
The President issued the directive to PCG Commandant Vice Admiral Danilo Abinoja when she presided over the emergency National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) meeting Friday night in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
The President expressed serious concerns over reports on the poor conditions besetting hundreds of passengers stranded at the ports of Tabaco City in Albay and Matnog in Sorsogon.
The passengers, according to reports presented by Abinoja to the President at the NDCC meeting, were stranded since the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) raised heightened alert for typhoon "Lando" and incoming super typhoon "Mina" (international codename: Mitag).
"Why don't you ask the PPA to put more comfort rooms and coffee shops in all port terminals? Kawawa ang mga pasahero kung hindi man lang sila makapaligo," the President told Abinoja.
The PPA is the agency tasked to oversee and supervise the operation of all cargo and passenger port terminals in the country.
Since the PCG suspended the operation of passenger and cargo vessels due to typhoons "Lando" and "Mina," hundreds of passengers and cargo trucks from Manila going to Catanduanes and the Visayas were stranded at the port terminals in Tabaco City and Matnog.
During the same meeting, the President approved the recommendation of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro to impose road ban only on a "case-to-case" basis, particularly on roads identified by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as destroyed by landslides or mudslides. (PNA)