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The Philippine Ports Authority will launch within the year its electronic ticketing system for seagoing passengers, according to Transport Secretary Vince Dizon
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The system is expected to be rolled out in the next two to three months
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Six kiosks for online ticketing will be deployed initially at Batangas port
The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) will roll out in two to three months its electronic ticketing system for seagoing passengers, Transport Secretary Vince Dizon said.
In a media briefing following inspection of the Batangas port passenger terminal building on April 10, the transport chief said PPA’s e-ticketing system—implementation of which was suspended previously—will provide passengers convenience as they will no longer have to queue at shipping lines’ ticketing booths to buy a ticket.
Apart from buying tickets online, six kiosks will be deployed initially at the Batangas port.
Dizon said the system can prevent overloading of ships since authorities can monitor the number of passengers through the system, and will also help eliminate the need for “fixers” to secure tickets.
PPA’s electronic ticketing management system (ETMS) project, which features unified electronic ticketing capabilities, is pursuant to PPA Administrative Order (AO) No. 12-2019. The AO—which was issued on November 18, 2019—provides 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 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 also intends to strengthen security and safety standards by mitigating vessel overloading and controlling the flow of regulated goods and cargoes using PPA port facilities, and providing standard stakeholders’ registries, credentialing, licensing, and accreditation monitoring.
The system will streamline payment and collection of port fees (terminal and cargo/roll-on/roll-off) and harmonize this with PPA’s existing electronic payment system. Setting it up is in compliance with the International Maritime Organization’s mandatory requirement for the electronic exchange of information on cargo, crew, and passengers as part of the revised Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic.
In September 2020, PPA pilot-tested ETMS at the port of Batangas and port of Calapan in Mindoro for planned full implementation in 2021. In November 2020, a public consultation was held with stakeholders ahead of AO 12-2019’s implementing rules and regulations.
In February 2022, PPA signed the contract with the winning bidder for the ETMS project. The joint venture of NextIX, Inc. and Carus Ferry Ab Ltd. was awarded the P499.898-millon project in December 2021 after it won the rebidding in October 2021.
READ: PPA signs contract for P500M e-terminal management system
PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago disclosed, however, that “immediately [after the] change [in] administration, there was an effort to shelve [the ETMS].” For this reason, the PPA Board decided to review the system and created a committee to conduct the study.
Santiago earlier said majority of domestic shipping lines do not have an online platform to sell tickets to passengers and this is why PPA is “providing [the service], as part of our terminal management system, [the] electronic ticketing facility.”
He added that shipping lines that already have existing online ticketing systems “have agreed that they will be allowed to continue with their online platform as long as this is integrated with the PPA ticketing system, at no cost to them.”
More beneficial
In an interview with media on April 14, however, Santiago noted the online systems of shipping lines also have a “certain degree of obsolescence” and will require upgrades and updating.
“What we are offering is that it will lower the costs of the shipping lines.. instead of them individually upgrading and upgrading their system, updating and updating their system, there will be one system that will… be applicable to everybody. And more importantly, it will be more beneficial to the passengers,” Santiago said.
He explained that while standalone ticketing systems of shipping lines are “okay”, there are routes, especially for roll-on/roll-off vessels, served by various ships “so you need to capacitate, you need to enable the passengers” to undertake just one booking for the entire trip. This ensures passengers don’t miss their schedules just because the system is not integrated.
Earlier, the Philippine Inter-island Shipping Association (PISA) asked the Anti-Red Tape Authority to stop PPA’s bidding out of the ETMS and to review AO 12-2019, claiming that implementing a central ticketing system would be “redundant,” “impractical,” and an additional burden to the riding public.
The PISA said AO 12-2019 is also “beyond the powers and authority of the PPA to promulgate” as a cursory reading of Presidential Decree 857 (PPA Charter), which was cited as the basis of the AO, would show that PPA has no authority to control, manage, or regulate the ticketing system of private shipowners or private port operators.
Relatedly, the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) earlier said it is 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, MARINA administrator Sonia 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. – Roumina Pablo
