Basey: Amid the San Juanico Bridge crisis, the contractor tasked to improve the Amandayehan Port in Basey, Samar is working double-time to make the wharf functional by next week. Engineer Boy Achilles Gabica of Aqualine Construction Corp. said they have been working day and night this week to upgrade the fish port into a roll-on, roll-off (RoRo) port. "We are doing our best to complete the works within 10 days. We are almost done with our backfilling but we need more time to install steel sheet piles to prevent erosion," he said in an interview on Thursday.

According to Philippines News Agency, the contractor has mobilized five pieces of heavy equipment and 25 workers on site to implement the improvement works. The Department of Public Works and Highways has yet to disclose the funding requirement for the port's upgrade. Improvement work is concentrated on reinforcing and expanding the ramps to facilitate wheeled vehicles' easy loading and unloading, especially during high tide.

On May 25, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon requested officials in Eastern Visayas to make the Amandayehan Port in Basey, Samar functional within two weeks to address logistical hurdles amid the San Juanico Bridge load limit, in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s directive to ensure an uninterrupted movement of supplies between Leyte and Samar provinces. Travel between Tacloban City and Amandayehan Port takes less than 30 minutes.

Currently, truckers and cargo vehicles are using the Maguino-o and Calbayog ports to reach a private port in Ormoc City as alternative routes. Travel time between the two ports using a RoRo is 13 hours, with the rate ranging from PHP15,000 to more than PHP20,000 per cargo truck.