CPA assures all port terminals fully operational

The Cebu Port Authority (CPA) has assured that all port terminals in Cebu are fully operational to ensure the smooth flow of goods in the island. | CPA photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu Port Authority (CPA) has assured the public that all port terminals remain fully operational to ensure the continued flow of goods, following the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) imposed in the entire Cebu Province.

“Amid the threat posed by COVID-19 and the implementation of ECQ, the CPA continues to provide support by manning our ports to ensure the unhampered movement of cargoes, basic and essential goods and other necessities,” CPA General Manager Leonilo Miole said.

Miole also asked all law enforcement officers to allow passage of all authorized CPA personnel and port workers in checkpoints and border controls to be able to report to their respective areas of assignment in CPA ports and offices scattered all over the entire province of Cebu.

“Our port frontline and skeletal workforce has to be in place in order for the port to be fully operational and to make sure that all preventive measures against COVID-19 are being followed and implemented in seaports,” he added.

Executive Order No. 5-N and Executive Order No. 64, issued by the Cebu Provincial government and Cebu City government respectively, provide the mandatory home quarantine for all residents except for those who provide essential services and those with quarantine passes that will be distributed to each household to allow the purchase of food, medicine and other necessities. 

“We hope that all law enforcement officers assigned at checkpoints or at border control would not prohibit the entry of CPA employees upon presentation of their CPA IDs and/or Certificate of Employment (COE) as these employees perform functions at the port that are essential to ensure the smooth flow of cargoes,” he said.

CPA allocates berthing areas

Moreover, Miole informed that the CPA had allocated berthing areas for vessels commissioned to transport medical supplies, equipment and health workers to facilitate fast movement and delivery to various healthcare facilities in the province.

The CPA also announced that no additional port charges had been imposed on the movement of cargoes such as cargo handling, pilotage, terminal, and miscellaneous charges and urged all port stakeholders to immediately report any violation.

“The CPA is fully supportive of the efforts to help combat COVID-19, in fact, aside from closely supervising our port operations, the CPA is offering all the support we can provide in close coordination with partner national and local government agencies,” he said.

Miole also said that the CPA had already offered its social hall to be utilized as temprary living quarters for the health workers of Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), who lived far and had no place to stay in the city after owners of boarding houses refused to accept them.

“We are doing this as our little way of helping our frontliners and our government in this fight against COVID-19,” he said.

Aside from that, the CPA was also in the process of identifying its assets which might serve as quarantine centers, medical relife and aid distribution localtions or temporary medical facilities./dbs