An independent evaluation the Japan International Cooperation Agency commissioned for the Batangas port project that it funded found four major factors that affected the project’s operational status.
These were weak government policy action toward the utilization of Batangas port; delays in civil engineering works; delays in the selection of the port operator; and insufficient interest of companies operating in industrial parks, transport companies and shipping companies to migrate from Manila to Batangas.
The independent study conducted by Japanese firm IC Net Limited indicated that Jica had used faulty assumptions on the economic viability of the Batangas port project.
The result of the evaluation found that the lukewarm interest of stakeholders was the result of several actual conditions at the Batangas port, that Jica overlooked.
It said companies situated between Batangas and Manila did not personally transport their cargo and instead contracted the jobs to shipping companies who actually selected which port would handle the cargo;
It said for shipping companies, the factor involved in selecting a port to handle cargo were not simply the overland transport costs between Manila and Batangas as had been assumed at the time of the appraisal.
The evaluation also found that in choosing the deployment route for a container ship, shipping companies took into account all costs including those for maritime transport.
The paper said that for instance, according to estimates based on the evaluator’s interview with stakeholders, overland transport across Luzon was only a small fraction of the total transport cost that also included sea routes between the Philippines and destinations such as Hong Kong, Europe and Japan.
