Tacloban: The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) will launch on Wednesday a free Tacloban-Samar-Tacloban roll-on, roll-off (RoRo) trip for cargo trucks carrying essential and perishable products amid the San Juanico Bridge load limit restrictions. OCD Eastern Visayas Regional Director Lord Byron Torrecarion said the initiative aims to ease the burden on cargo truck operators, government offices, and the business sector by ensuring that essential goods continue to move freely and at no additional cost along alternative sea routes.
According to Philippines News Agency, by providing free RoRo transport services, the OCD aims to bridge the gap caused by the San Juanico crisis, allowing vital supplies to reach families, markets, health facilities, and local industries without interruption and additional cost for the consumers. Torrecarion mentioned that the OCD has chartered a RoRo vessel to carry trucks loaded with essential goods for at least the next four months between Tacloban City and Amadayehan village in Basey, Samar, crossing the San Juanico Strait. This program may be extended depending on available funds.
Covered by the program are cargo trucks and delivery vehicles officially transporting essential and perishable goods such as food, medicine, water, animal feed, and fuel. Government and humanitarian vehicles on official duty carrying relief goods or logistical support for disaster response operations are also included. Each RoRo vessel can carry up to 30 trucks per trip. Currently, each port has only one available RoRo ramp.
Application forms are available in a command center along Bypass Road in Tacloban and the fish landing center in Amandayehan for truckers. The cargo trucks will be assessed by the Regional Inter-Agency Coordinating Council Task Force San Juanico to see if they are qualified for the free RoRo trip. The Amandayehan-Tacloban route is a new shipping lane that complements existing ones, significantly reducing travel time to 15 to 20 minutes, excluding loading and unloading. This is a stark contrast to the 13-hour Calbayog-Ormoc route. Shipping companies are prioritizing trucks with dangerous, essential, and perishable goods on a first-come, first-served basis.
