Scaled up port activities seen this year   

There are three reasons why the country’s ports will be bursting with economic activities this year, the chief of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said. 

Jay Daniel R. Santiago, general manager of the PPA, enumerated these factors as port modernization, operational efficiency, and service excellence, citing greater volume or investments in these areas.

Bolstering his optimism, Santiago said there is reason to believe that 2026 will see “stronger growth in cargo and passenger traffic.”

For this year, the PPA said it is expecting cargo volume to come in 4.03% stronger at 320.94 million metric tons, driven mainly by higher foreign cargo shipments.

The PPA said foreign cargo volume is expected to rise 4.28% to 202.73 million metric tons in 2025. Domestic cargo volume is seen rising 3.61% to 118.22 million metric tons.

“We remain focused on delivering measurable results that translate to safer, more reliable, and more accessible port services,” Santiago said.

Container throughput is forecast to increase 3.94% to 8.88 million twenty-foot equivalent units.

For this year, passenger traffic is expected to grow 5.78% to 87.26 million, the PPA said, after logging 82.49 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2025.

PPA logged a record of 6.28 million passengers during the Christmas and New Year travel season, the highest volume since its establishment in 1974. The surge was logged between Dec. 15, 2025 and Jan. 5, 2026.

About 12 ports are set to be privatized in 2026, the PPA added.

For a five-year period, the PPA said it earmarked up to P16 billion for infrastructure projects from 2024 to 2028. These funds will be used to enhance further port efficiency and capacity.  In the pipeline are 14 major port projects due for completion until 2028.