Hearty G.

Gallano

Joella Ann Pura

BS- Accountacy IV

The Matnog Ferry Terminal: Looking at the Progress

"You Are Now Leaving the Island of Luzon"- the words that will welcome once you've reached the town
proper of Matnog. Most people knew this statement when it was featured in the horror-thriller film T2
starring Ms. Maricel Soriano and Relax It's Just Pag-ibig of Star Cinema films. The featured place- The
Matnog Ferry Terminal.

Matnog, a municipality located at the southernmost pit of Sorsogon and Luzon is the gateway to Visayaz
and Mindanao. The municipality had been the connection of Sorsogon and Luzon to Samar even before
World War II as the location and distance is the closest point of Luzon to Samar.

The Matnog Ferry Terminal is a RORO port for carrying passengers, trailers, cars and other rolling
equipment which is discharged through the bow or stern ramps or both. It is one of the busiest ports of
the government. The performance and progress of Matnog Ferry Terminal is dictated not by the quality
of port management but because from Luzon, there is no other way to Eastern Visayas except via
Matnog.

Residents near the port experience the same thing everyday- the shaking of the ground once a ferry is
about to dock or to depart and the loud successive noises coming from the pipes. As it is a long time
since the port operates there ar certain progresses and problems encountered.

FIRST, the port is does not have enough ramps to dock ferries that is why most of the time, there is a sea
traffic. In an half-hour, there can be 2 to 3 ferries waiting along coast to dock. For those in the seashore
this looks like a parking-lot-like scene however it is jjust like the traffic in EDSA- only consumes money,
fuel, and time.

In 2008, the government built a back-up area near the Matnog terminal (formerly the market) for
expansion. The main goal is to maximize docking capacity of ferries. in early 2016, they broaden the
expansion buldozing a a mountain of huge rocks into the sea. Recently, the change can be seen from
different sides near the port because of the expansion.

SECOND- the passenger terminal management. Mostly, additional fees and charges to buy tickets are old
stories that are still apparently done in the counter. Passengers would would say many ports would let
them buy tickets, ask them to proceed to a collector for insurance fees, terminal fees and the like. One
solution they try to express is to charge them one rate at a time inclusive of this additional fees so it can
be hassle-free. Now, more passengers prefer to take FastCat since they charge rate at once.

THIRD- stranded vehicles and passengers. It is not new to hear news about the long line at Matnog Port
which even reaches up to 5 kilometers. This happens when the wheather is not in a good condition.
Matnog is a town where swells are strong especially both in habagat and amihan or if there are storm
signals. Ferries are not allowed to sail.

It happens mostly at peak seasons. Semana Santa, All Saints Day and Christmas season. From there,
trucks, buses and heavy equipment are stranded from the point of the Maharlika Highway. Locals get this
opportunity to open stalls, sell products and services for stranded passengers. There goes the overpriced
bottled water, pay-to-use comfort rooms and pay-to-charge outlets. Some give free food and offer a
small hand. Early last december 2017 due to typhoon, lomg lines of trucks and vehicles started to
stretch out of the the Maharlila highway. Passengers, counted hours, days and weeks just to board the
Ferries.

As the locals, prepare for the midnight mass, a crowd of people waiting to cross the seas of Matnog find
ways how to sustain more days in unattended buses with lack of food and money. As it is a mess to the
town, it is a dilemma to the passengers. Have you seen experienced christmas with a stranded flock of
people? It's hard to to even imagine but they spent the long-awaited christmas eve near yet an ocean
away from their families who patiently wait for their arrival.

FOURTH- Sea gypsies (Parabuso) and no passenger terminal building and covered passenger walkway.

These parabuso are mostly the young locals of the town who ask for coins below. Looking near this
event, one will think that passengers are tourists who feed the young fishes below with food smaller
than a pebble. This sad scenario is what keeps these children full for the rest of the day. Sisid barya is not
just a game but a little battle for survival.

In Macapagal's term, the passengers' building is almost up for operation but the control was transferred
to yet another port. As a busy port, the government failed to deliver the project in Matnog port.

There is so much promise for The Matnog Ferry Terminal. If properly managed, it could be monitored
and advanced with systems that will revitalize the image of a big and critical port of the Philippines. Now
that it is contiously improving, the hopes are on the authority on how well they will plow the profits for a
greater change. Looking at how strategic Matnog is, there still remains a question as to why it is still a
third class municipality despite the income generating port and a booming eco-tourism. What went
wrong? Did you hear the whispers of the powerful as they pass by?
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 465 Classification of Provinces, Cities, and Municipalites in the Philippines

Section 4. Classification of municipalities. Municipalities are divided into six main classes according to
their average annual income during the last four fiscal years, as follows:

First Class. Municipalities that have obtained an average total revenue of one million five hundred
thousand pesos or more per annum;

Second Class. Municipalities that have obtained an average total revenue of one million pesos or more
but less than one million five hundred thousand pesos per annum;

Third Class. Municipalities that have obtained an average total revenue of five hundred thousand pesos
or more but less than one million pesos per annum;

Fourth Class. Municipalities that have obtained an average total revenue of three hundred thousand
pesos or more but less than five hundred thousand pesos per annum;

Fifth Class. Municipalities that have obtained an average total revenue of one hundred thousand pesos
or more but less than three hundred thousand pesos per annum; and

Sixth Class. Municipalities that have obtained an average total revenue of less than one hundred
thousand pesos per annum.