MANILA – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is upgrading the country’s airports and seaports as part of efforts to make the Philippines a transshipment hub, Acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez said.
Lopez made the remarks during Thursday’s grand opening of the United Parcel Service (UPS) International Air Hub at Clark International Airport in Pampanga. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. attended the event along with Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Ma. Cristina Roque.
“Upon the President’s directive, we must ensure that the Philippines becomes a transshipment hub,” Lopez said.
He said this requires modernizing the country’s airports and seaports to guarantee an interconnected logistics hub that will lower logistics costs and generate investment opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises.
Marcos has ordered the DOTr and the Department of Public Works and Highways to improve the country’s transport system, create an interconnected road network and build more bridges to lower logistics costs and connect agricultural production areas to ports and businesses.
The President also cited the proposed Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas Railway under the Luzon Economic Corridor, which aims to link the major ports of Subic, Manila and Batangas through an integrated freight network.
The new UPS hub was built with an investment of more than USD80 million and spans 30,000 square meters, making it 15 times larger than the company’s previous Clark facility. It can process up to 15,000 packages per hour and is expected to handle an average daily volume of 46,000 packages.
The expansion has created nearly 600 jobs for the local community, and operations are expected to support 170 weekly flight segments to and from Clark. This will enable faster deliveries to key markets in Asia-Pacific, India, Europe and the United States, with some shipments arriving in as little as one business day and up to two days faster service on selected routes serving Eastern China, Southeast Asia and India.
The facility is equipped with automated sorting systems, temperature-controlled areas and UPS Premier RFID technology to support time-sensitive shipments, particularly for the healthcare, high-tech, and manufacturing sectors. (Raymond Carl Dela Cruz/PNA)
