Home 
ANTICIPATING the congestion at the Cebu International Port (CIP), Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez Jr. is proposing the establishment of an international port in the south that may be converted into a free port.
Sanchez said the port project, estimated to cost P30 billion, may be put up in five years by a private investor and could be implemented ahead from the Transaxial Highway.
Another option is for the provincial government to divert funds originally meant to develop a now-controversial lot that the province purchased from the Balili family in Naga City.
The funds could be used to develop the 550-hectare port reclamation project.
“We can’t expand the CIP, and we can’t use any other port at the moment. This will cause our economic activities to slow down. We’ll go stagnant,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez said the proposed port project, which is envisioned to be a component of the Transaxial Development Project, would be off-shore, built on an artificial island constructed through reclamation.
He said the port idea was “much better” than the Balili development project envisioned by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.
The proposed port project is deeper and has more space than the Balili beach lot.
Sanchez said a national paper reported that Sen. Richard Gordon wanted Laguna de Bay developed into a free port.
If the plan pushes through, this would be the second free port in Manila, next to the Subic Bay Free Port.
“We here in Cebu should have our own, too,” he said.
Sanchez proposed his own design for the free port, shaped like a fish.
The vice governor’s free port idea spans the waters of Talisay City, Minglanilla town, and Naga City.
“We wouldn’t even have to buy beach lots because the port project would be an offshore development,” he added.
Sanchez said the 550-hectare project would be developed from shallow areas along the shoreline of the three local government units, and connected to the mainland with bridges.
He suggested using fly ash from coal power plants in Naga as filling material for the project.
Of the 550-hectare project, eight hectares would be set aside for an international port that would have a berth of 12 meters deep, Sanchez said. International ports are required to have berths of at least 12 meters to accommodate large ships.
The rest of the project would be divided among several zones: 155 hectares for an industrial zone, 230 hectares for a commercial zone, 35 hectares for a tourism zone, 15 hectares for a marina, and a “green zone” of 15 hectares.
The green zone would accommodate a greenhouse and organic farms, Sanchez said.
He said the project, if completed, could also help decongest vehicular traffic in the southern portions of Metro Cebu, since cars could take the port area instead of passing through the South Coastal Road. Vehicles from the Talisay area may take the port and exit in Naga.
Sanchez estimated revenues of over P60 billion from real estate income and P3.7 billion per year in taxes and other sources.
