PPA expects 4.6M passengers during holidays

The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said it is expecting 4.6 million passengers to use all PPA-governed ports this Christmas towards the New Year, while its personnel are 100 percent ready for the influx of vacationers.

During the Kapihan sa Pantalan on Monday, PPA general manager, Atty. Jay Santiago stressed that he ordered “no leave for frontline and operations personnel” to attend to the needs of passengers during this peak season.

Santiago said the expected number of passengers, which would be counted down from 15 December to 5 January, is up by 200,000 compared to the 4.4 million recorded over the same period in 2024.

“We are very confident that our personnel in all terminals are very ready, unless there are weather disturbances. Other than that, we are ready and our security is on heightened alert, particularly our port police, in coordination with the Philippine National Police-Maritime Group and the Philippine Coast Guard. In case that some passengers would be stranded, ready-to-eat meals are ready to be deployed, with the help of the DSWD,” Santiago said.

He also requested shipping lines to deploy an adequate number of vessels, at the same time switch on their online ticketing system so that passengers will not experience hassle such as long queues in getting their journey tickets.

“For our passengers, please secure your tickets early, or three days before their journeys, to have a worthwhile sea travel. We have to understand that passengers, the government, and the private sector should work hand-in-hand during these times. Let’s work together for a better travel experience,” Santiago stressed.

From January to October 2025, the PPA said passenger traffic reached 69,125,788, marking a 5.25 percent increase from 65,676,921 passengers recorded in the same period last year.

The top five ports based on calendar year 2025 passenger traffic were Iloilo Port, Batangas Port, Jordan Port, Calapan Port, and Babak Port.