The P700-Million Peso Mistake

In the old past, the Pulupandan port which is some 25 kilometers south of the capital Bacolod was the main port of Negros Occidental province. It came to be located there because Bacolod has no way to build a deep-water port the because of the shallow slope of its beaches. And for export of sugar, the Negros sugar barons even developed a terminal in Guimaras before the war where foreign ships can dock and load sugar for export.


From the NENACO Anniversary book

There was not much controversy was found before in Pulupandan being the main port of Negros Occidental. For the short hop to Iloilo the then smaller ferries were able to dock in Bacolod wharf. But for liners to Manila after the war, Pulupandan was the port and even the shipping company founded by Western visayas interests which did exclusive Western Visayas routes, the Southern Lines used Pulupandan port. All liner companies then used Pulupandan port.

Things changed in the 1960’s when Negros Navigation was already “the” Western Visayas shipping company and the company was plotting its rise and it was loaded with political connections. 1960’s was also the decade when from mainly having small and shallow draft ex-FS ships as the primary workhorse for shorter distances, the ships started to get bigger because maybe the population was growing fast and maybe also the economy was also developing because of the population increase (but of course not in a qualitative way – it was still plow and harrow technology of the old ages and mainly tilling of land in individual plots).

For their bigger ships now, Negros Navigation decided to have a new port which turned out to be the Banago port. This port was located in government-owned foreshoreland on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) lease of 50 years.


Banago port (from “docdoms” in Photobucket)

Banago port was a big success for Negros Navigation. How can it not be when it was located right at the capital and commercial center and Pulupandan is some distance to the south? As a private port, Banago was exclusive to the ships of Negros Navigation as they were the owner and operator of that.

Pulupandan port was then left to decay slowly and get shallow as the years went by. Being near an estuary did not help its case and in any case as the years went by dredging has to be done on ports so the depth will be maintained as silt will naturally accumulate due both to human and natural causes.

The other shipping companies like Sulpicio Lines, William Lines, Lorenzo Shipping and Compania Maritima still used Banago port until the early 1980’s by using the shallow draft ex-FS ships and other vessels of the same size and draft. But in the same decade these types were gone in Pulupandan and there was no way they can still dock their bigger ships there now. And so one by one they abandoned Pulupandan and not even their new container ships called there and Pulupandan completely lost its liners from Manila.

The 1980’s started with Negros Navigation having practical monopoly of shipping to Negros Occidental aside from the occasional small general purpose ship calling in Pulupandan which remained operational and the attempt of Aboitiz Shipping to use Sipalay port in the southern part of Negros Occidental as alternative. So when one has to go to Bacolod by ship (which was much cheaper than the expensive PAL plane then), one then has to go to the nearest negros Navigation ticketing office or booth.

But things never lie still and in the 1990s, the Bacolod Real Estate and Development Company (BREDCO) applied for a reclamation permit with the purpose of building a port. That was subsequently granted and the new BREDCO port slowly began to take shape. When it became operational it was obvious that its design and capacity is much, much superior than the Banago port of Negros Navigation. And that was why I wondered why after so many decades Negros Navigation didn’t care to build a port that is comparable and that they will own forever.


BREDCO Port (from “docdoms” in Photobucket)

When the merged shipping company WG&A came into being and it wanted to challenge Negros Navigation in its own turf, they had BREDCO which they can approach. BREDCO port served WG&A ships and in an instant the monopoly of Negros Navigation in Bacolod and Negros occidental was suddenly broken. And the competition situation was WG&A had more and better ships than Negros Navigation. If not for the Negrense’s loyalty to Nenaco, WG&A would have pushed Negros Navigation to the brink more rapidly.

In retaliation, Negros Navigation also entered the home turf of WG&A which is Cebu. But they were never particularly successful there as they were like facing three combined shipping companies there especially in cargo and let us not forget that Cebu is also the stronghold of the Number 1 before the “Great Merger” which was Sulpicio Lines. Negros Navigation never really the quality of the great liners serving the Cebu route and so competing there was very tough for them.

Soon BREDCO portwas a roaring success. Not only did it host liners from Manila but also container ships. With the development of the intermodal system, the Bacolod-Dumangas short-distance ferry route took off and not only that the HSC (High Speed Craft) route between Iloilo and Bacolod really took off also and in its wash it even sank the Iloilo-Bacolod short-distance ferries of Negros Navigation which they served since their inception in 1932. By this it was all too obvious that Banago port is no match to BREDCO port in location and in facilities. Well, it was also even able to develop a grain and an oil terminal. They have it all including all the assortment of charges, too to better fund their expansion.

It was obvious then that BREDCO was just a good commercial port and not much more and not even protecting Negros Navigation interests which at the start of the new millennium its fortunes are ebbing fast. Soon Negros Occidental politicians had grumblings against BREDCO to maybe shake up its roost and effect changes. But no dice. BREDCO simply shrugged off all pressures and cases filed. Soon even the Negros Navigation hold on Banago port was gone because their 50-year lease already expired and they have to return the foreshoreland and together with it surrender the port to the government which happened during President Aquino’s term.

When the return of Banago port was imminent, the Negros Occcidental politicians tried to have a government port that will compete with BREDCO. But then all their brain wracking produced just one lousy idea, the re-development of Pulupandan port into a port worthy of regional port standards and for this they committed a budget from the peoples’ coffer of over P700 million. And with that money a new modern port rose in Pulupandan.


Pulupandan Port (Photo from

Which soon turned practically into a “port to nowhere”. No liners came nor container ships. Just few occasional small freighters will come just like before. The government tried to sell it as a connection to Guimaras. After prodding, the Montenegro Shipping Lines responded and fielded a Pulupandan to Sibunag short-distance ferry-RORO. But then that solitary ferry is no match in weight with all the HSCs and short-distance ferry-ROROS using the BREDCO to Iloilo and Dumangas routes. There was simply no way to compete with the much superior location and development of BREDCO port. It was just like developing Cavite port to compete with North Harbor or developing Argao port to compete with Cebu port.

Now there is pressure to develop a new government port in Bacolod to compete with BREDCO. Huh? I thought it was the mantra of government not to compete with private enterprises (by the way, I am not the defender of BREDCO nor do I have any connection with them; it just titillates me to twit government stupidity), Why don’t they just tow the Pulupandan port to Bacolod to save on cost? Now, if that is only possible so the mistake can be corrected. And where was the stupid NEDA (National Economic Development Authority) in all of this when it should have checked well the validity of government projects? Will the proponents and validators of the Pulupandan port project willing to have their necks garrotted?

Now imagine another regional port in Bacolod costing about a billion pesos to build including land to be purchased just to make up for the Pulupundan error and compete with BREDCO!

When one Negros Occidental congressmen questioned that project, the main proponent which is one of the richest men in Congress simply said he will try to have a similar port in another congressional district north of Bacolod and the congressman which questioned was mollified. Well, with “solons” like this maybe it is high time we close Congress and better just save the money.

And that is the P700-million peso Pulupandan mistake which they will try to remedy by throwing good money after bad.

A Report on the Recent Situation of Bicol Passenger Shipping




















































Burias motor banca arriving in Pasacao



[Written based on January 2017 data.]

The Pio Duran Port


The smallness of Pio Duran town

Pio Duran is a small town and a port in the southern coast of Albay. However, some people spell this as “Pioduran” which is incorrect since the town was named after the Congressman who sponsored the bill creating the town. The town was eventually created after Congressman Pio Duran died.

In the past this place was called “Malacbalac” and it was known for mainly one thing, its abundant fish which was supplied to the rest of Albay towns and even as far as Iriga in Camarines Sur. Before that the place was generally referred to as “Panganiran” and thus the bay where Malacbalac is situated is called Panganiran Bay. There is still a barrio named Panganiran in Pio Duran town.


Pio Duran port

For decades after the creation of the town, Pio Duran was not an enchanting place to visit because of the really bad state of the road then (it was unpaved and muddy) which was sometimes cut at the peak of the rainy season or when there is a typhoon. In 1984 a new port was built in the town supplanting the old wooden municipal port. This was one of the 12 Bicol ports wangled by then Minister Luis Villafuerte from President Ferdinand Marcos when there was already an arrangement that Villafuerte’s ministry will be absorbed by Roberto Ongpin’s ministry.

The funds for the ports were sourced from JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) and these were called “fishports”. But except for Camaligan port, it cannot be compared to the known fishports today like Navotas, Daliao and Sangali because it is just a port and there are no blast-freezing facilities, cold storage and fish processing.


Pio Duran town and port

After more than 20 years, the old municipal port and “fishport” of Pio Duran were practically gone, weathered by the elements and assaulted by the storm waves generated by the typhoons that pass Bicol and the sometime fierce habagat waves. That is why when President Gloria Arroyo thought of Pio Duran as a RORO port a new, very simple finger port with no back-up area has to be built.

Pio Duran “fishport” is one damning evidence against politicians and bureaucrats who say that when a port is built the ships will come. Usually when the ships try to come many years later the old port is no more. Ports are unlike highways or roads than when built then people and vehicles come. I really don’t know why we have to listen to politicians and bureaucrats who have no knowledge of maritime matters like the former Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr.



The old “fishport” of Pio Duran

Even when the new port was built it did not have ships coming immediately. What turned the table in favor of Pio Duran was the bad situation in the nearby port of Pilar in Sorsogon which connects Masbate to the Luzon mainland through ROROs and other kinds of crafts. New players wanted to come in but there were two obstacles. One, the old port of Pilar was only serviceable because the pioneer RORO operator Montenegro Shipping Lines Inc. made improvements.

There were no improvements before because President Arroyo hated the guts of the Congressman then of the place which was Francis Escudero who among other congressmen tried to file an impeachment complaint against her. Now, one can’t do that to a Capampangan without reaping the whirlwind. Pilar port at the start did not even have a RORO ramp and besides the docking area is crowded because it is actually small and there are a lot of passenger-cargo motor bancas and some motor boats.


Pilar port

The second obstacle was being in a river estuary Pilar port is very shallow and only basic, short-distance ferry-ROROs and LCTs can dock there. In an oncoming low tide, the RORO has to leave early otherwise it might not be able to get out. One competitor of the Montenegro Lines does not even have basic, short-distance ferry-ROROs so Pilar port was automatically out for them.

It was the expanding Medallion Transport which first applied for a Pio Duran-Masbate route. Next followed the dominant shipping line of Bicol, the Sta. Clara Shipping Corp./Penafrancia Shipping Corp. combine which then ditched their unprofitable Bulan-Masbate route (before that they even tried a Pasacao-Masbate route which they abandoned very fast).

The RORO business between the Bicol mainland and Masbate bloomed and many buses and intermodal trucks now cross daily and some are even destined for Cebu through Bogo port. Cebu trader trucks now also cross to the Bicol mainland through Masbate. There are also vehicles destined for CALABARZON and Metro Manila.

There is now an even split between Pio Duran and Pilar in terms of RORO traffic. The Sta. Clara Shipping Corp./Penafrancia Shipping Corp. combine and Medallion Transport operate ferries to Pio Duran while Montenegro Lines operates ROROs and fastcrafts to Pilar and Denica Lines also operates ROROs and motor bancas to Pilar.


Denica Lines RORO

Recently, I noticed Montenegro Lines got a franchise to Pio Duran. Well, with the construction of a back-up area and a new RORO ramp more vessels can now be accommodated in Pio Duran. Pilar is also improved now and I wonder if the Sta. Clara Shipping Corp./Penafrancia Shipping Corp. combine will “invade” that. Maybe not if the port is not dredged (there had been long calls for this but the government practically have no more dredgers running).

For intermodal buses and trucks coming from Manila and CALABARZON and even Naga, Pio Duran has an advantage in that about 40 kilometers and more than an hour of travel time is shaved. Besides, Pio Duran has no depth problems and so docking and undocking can be done at any time unlike in Pilar.

Pilar meanwhile will always host the motor bancas and the motor boats because those connect local passengers and cargo to Masbate. A passenger or a shipment from Daraga, Legazpi or Tabaco will not use Pio Duran because it will then be a longer route and besides there are no motor bancas or motor boats running from Pio Duran to Masbate. This situation is also true for the fastcrafts where the passengers are mainly local. Meanwhile, Pio Duran will continue to host the few motor boats going to the Claveria town in the eastern half of Burias island.


Pio Duran main road

Whatever, it can be said that Pio Duran town and port has already triumphed. From a sleepy, remote town with no ROROs and not many buses and trucks, it is now beginning to bustle with activity because it became a connecting port to Masbate and part of the intermodal system of transport and an alternative to Pilar.

Pio Duran port is no longer a port to nowhere. Unlike one near port to the west of them, the Pantao port which is the white elephant of Governor/Congressman Joey Salceda and it is still a port to nowhere until now. If only the funds spent for Pantao port to be a “regional port” were given to Pio Duran and Pilar ports.

Well, that is how politics and development intertwine in the Philippines.


A Sta. Clara Shipping RORO in Pio Duran port