Hey there, folks! How’s your August so far? I just celebrated my birthday so my heart is full from all the greetings and love I received last week. Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. And speaking of birthdays, let us greet the great and the diligent Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon a happy and meaningful birthday as well.

A lot of things are happening in the transport sector, from the roads, land, air, sea, to commuter welfare, which are a part of us like the air we breathe. That’s why I hope we will always prioritize mass transport to discourage the public from using their vehicles. As an advocate of the fight against climate change, I hope we will always make a collective effort to reduce our carbon emissions per person and per country.

Speaking of changes, you know how it seems that every time we turn on the news these days it’s a mix of hope and frustration? One moment there’s talk of new parks reviving our city like the Pasig River Esplanade opening up more riverside space to breathe, and then, bam! The next segment is about ghost flood control projects and Senate probes. Yes, it is hard not to feel anxiety for everything that’s been happening.

In the middle of all this, of course, the people deserve to know where their taxes are going. We can only hope for the best for our country, but your guess is as good as mine. The fees we are paying should all go to services we can all use as citizens of the Philippines. The question is, can you actually feel the difference?

Speaking of fees, may I just say that recently the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) rejected a terminal fee increase for the Batangas port subject to further study, especially since Mindoro is facing a state of calamity. That is a very nice people-centered decision of PPA general manager Jay Santiago — always for the traveling public and the commuters who will be facing the brunt of the charges.

Moving forward, upon checking, I found out the PPA is quietly helping millions get to where they need to go without fees weighing them down. This doesn’t involve mega reclamation projects or flashy promises—it’s just people being able to travel without added cost. Compared to empty projects that never materialize, this feels… genuine.

So, under the PPA’s Passenger Terminal Fee Exemption (PTFE) program, 8.77-million passengers nationwide have benefited since its expansion in 2019, lessening the travel expenses of senior citizens, students, persons with disability (PWDs), uniformed personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, and Philippine Coast Guard, and Medal of Valor awardees and their dependents in the first degree.

Through PPA Administrative Order No. 04-2019, the agency waives the terminal fees for these passengers at all PPA-owned passenger terminals upon presentation of a valid ID. This is an upgraded privilege — from the previous 20-percent discount to full exemption — resulting in a total of P219.26 million in waived fees over seven years.

As of July 2025, 1,692,377 passengers have benefited from the policy, translating to P34.27 million in foregone revenue shouldered by the PPA. Students comprise the largest group with 814,253 beneficiaries (P7.27 million), followed by 682,371 senior citizens (P12.93 million), 124,519 PWDs (P2.58 million), and 71,234 uniformed personnel (P1.49 million). PMO Batangas recorded the highest number of senior citizen beneficiaries at 94,623, while PMO Mindoro posted the highest exemption value at P2.24 million.

So yes, the PPA’s fee exemption might be “just basic,” but sometimes it’s the small acts of public service that quietly build goodwill, one passenger at a time. After all, some deeds don’t have to be announced via megaphones but just made to work for the Filipino people.

So there, after all, we are in the same boat. Whatever or whoever moves will surely rock the boat hopefully to the advantage of us all. Keep on swimming, fellas!