{"id":239648,"date":"2019-12-09T21:34:08","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T02:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=239648"},"modified":"2019-12-09T21:34:08","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T02:34:08","slug":"increased-govt-support-improves-pasig-river-ferry-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/12\/09\/increased-govt-support-improves-pasig-river-ferry-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Increased gov\u2019t support improves Pasig River Ferry Service"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: These are some of the boats that will be used to transport passengers along Pasig River. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— An official of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Monday said the relaunched Pasig River Ferry Service (PRFS) is likely to succeed due to the increased support of the government, both at the national and local level.<\/p>\n

In an interview following the relaunching ceremony, MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim said budgetary constraints, among others, hampered operations of the PRFS but these have been addressed through the addition of new boats, equipment, and support from the government — from the local governments to Malaca\u00f1ang.<\/p>\n

The MMDA and partner agencies relaunched the operations of the ferry service to promote the project as a viable alternative mass transportation system.<\/p>\n

\u201cNa-<\/em>launch\u00a0na noon, mayroon pagkukulang<\/em>, so this time\u00a0may<\/em>\u00a0(It was launched in the past, there were inadequacies, so this time there are) renewed efforts to relaunch this. At this time,\u00a0malaki ‘yung suporta ng<\/em>\u00a0Malaca\u00f1ang\u00a0sa proyektong ito<\/em>\u00a0(there\u2019s great support from Malaca\u00f1ang for this project),\u201d Lim said.<\/p>\n

One of the major problems of the PRFS in the past, he said, was when water hyacinths, locally called \u201cwater lilies,\u201d choke portions of the Pasig River.<\/p>\n

The problem, which could damage the boats of the PRFS if not addressed, resulted in several suspension of operations in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cNgayon may mga<\/em>\u00a0harvesters\u00a0na tayo na ginagamit. Nakita na niyo siguro ‘yung iba na nago-<\/em>operate\u00a0kanina, hina-<\/em>harvest\u00a0niya ‘yung mga<\/em>\u00a0water lily (We now have harvesters in operation. You might have seen that earlier, harvesting water lilies),\u201d Lim said.<\/p>\n

Aside from the procurement of new equipment, the existing stations of the PRFS are under renovation\u2014with the MMDA eyeing the addition of several new stations and boats for the ferry service.<\/p>\n

\u201cSa ngayon ‘yung mga<\/em>\u00a0existing\u00a0na<\/em>\u00a0MMDA ferry\u00a0ni-<\/em>repair\u00a0natin lahat. Nauna na ‘yung pahiram ni<\/em>\u00a0Mayor Vico (Victor Ma. Sotto)\u00a0na dalawa, may isang<\/em>\u00a0150-seater\u00a0na nandiyan na, at marami pang darating<\/em>\u00a0(For now, all existing ferries of the MMDA have been repaired. We also already received the two boats loaned by Mayor Vico, there\u2019s already one 150-seater vessel already here, with many more coming),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

To extend its route, Lim said the MMDA may also start dredging operations in parts of the Pasig River that are too shallow for a mass transport vessel.<\/p>\n

He added that the PRFS as a project has “unlimited potential”, saying it could later be extended to include stops along towns bordering the coast of Laguna de Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually\u00a0paabutin din natin ito hanggang sa mga<\/em>\u00a0lakeshore towns\u00a0ng<\/em>\u00a0Laguna de Bay. So unlimited\u00a0‘yung mga pwede nating gawin para sa proyektong ito<\/em>\u00a0(we would extend this to lakeshore towns surrounding Laguna de Bay. So, this project has unlimited potential),\u201d Lim said.<\/p>\n

The ride at PRFS is free until January 31 next year.<\/p>\n

It currently has seven vessels in operation, two 57-passenger capacity boats, three 36-passenger capacity boats, and two with a smaller capacity of 16 passengers.<\/p>\n

It has 11 stations dotted along the coasts of the Pasig River and these are (from east to west): Pinagbuhatan, San Joaquin, Maybunga, Guadalupe, Valenzuela, Hulo, Lambingan, Sta. Ana, PUP, Lawton, and Escolta.<\/p>\n

Launched on Sunday, the Cavite-Manila Ferry Service is also connected to the PRFS through Lawton Station\u2014allowing the public to travel between the two regions free until next year with only one stop in between.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— An official of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Monday said the relaunched Pasig River Ferry Service (PRFS) …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":239649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-239648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-raymond-carl-dela-cruz","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239648"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":239650,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239648\/revisions\/239650"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}