They may be well-planned, well-funded and well-executed but not a few infrastructure projects of the government have faltered after their completion for reasons that baffle proponents and the public alike. In certain cases, a project becomes operational long beyond its targeted schedule. But the worst that could happen is a costly venture turning into white elephant.

Stakeholders in the landmark project Batangas International Port are in the grip of fear that the ambitious venture would fall short of expectations.

The port, which went into operation more than a decade ago, was intended to provide importers and exporters, especially those based in Southern Luzon, with an alternative sea terminal to transport their goods.  You may say it?s the southern counterpart of the Subic Bay Freeport which serves as the transshipment and trade hub in Central and North Luzon. With the two supplemental ports in full swing, this would decongest the heavy cargo traffic at the Port of Manila.

But while the Subic port is thriving with brisk business to the delight of investors and locators, this level of success has not been duplicated at the Batangas port.  In fact, the port and terminal operator handling the domestic cargo traffic there is barely making a profit out of its operation, if it is making any at all.

No less than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo worked hard to see the Batangas port project implemented and completed as a flagship project of her administration.  She went out of her way to personally visit the project a number of times to ensure that it was finished within schedule.  She felt a personal triumph when the port was finally inaugurated and opened for commercial operations.

Equipped with the most modern facilities and equipment, the Batangas port is billed as the primary seaport in the Calabarzon region composed of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon.  But why is it that the volumes of shipment remain low at the terminal, which is actually Part I of the Batangas Port Development Project being supervised by the Philippine Ports Authority?

As a waterfront observer says, the port facility has very little to show except its excellent potentials in sea transportation.  One cannot but feel disappointed over the drawbacks being encountered by the project which was bankrolled by a low-interest, long-term P4-billion loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

The Batangas port serves as a strategic trading point for all industries in the Calabarzon which has emerged as a fast-growing industrial and economic zone.  It plays an important role in the economic, social and tourism development of the country by being linked to a network of inter-island transportation called the nautical highway.

The port functions as the main point of access to Mindoro island which supplies a variety of agricultural products to the National Capital and Southern Tagalog regions.

It was also conceived to help in resuscitating the country?s wobbly shipping industry. Since nearly 90 percent of all goods around the world are transported by sea?including the ones entering and leaving domestic shores?the Batangas port was envisioned to form part of a seamless logistics system, allowing business firms to ship their products to and from any point in the country and the world at the lowest possible cost.

At a recent conference, officials of government regulatory agencies and stakeholders from the private sector swapped ideas on how to maximize the potentials of the Batangas port and boost its role as the primary facility to service the shipping needs in the region. The participants came from the Bureau of Customs, Philippine Ports Authority, Philippine Economic Zone Authority, Association of International Shipping Lines, Asian Terminal Inc. and the various locators in export processing zones and industrial parks within the region under the ambit of the Philippine Export Zone Authority.

The Bureau of Customs cited the advantages and benefits of using the Batangas port. For instance, the Calabarzon locators can save as much as 14 percent in cargo handling cost and 40 to 60 percent in transport cost. The processing and release of Customs documents would only take about 30 minutes. Easily available are large parcels of land to match the container freight station needs of shipping lines. Locators can benefit from faster turnaround time because there is no truck ban in Batangas and they can transport their cargo within 24 hours any day.

Other participants cited the vastly improved road network from the Batangas port to various points that include the Southern Luzon Expressway, the Star Tollway and the flyover and diversion road at the port.

Despite the troubles besetting the first phase of the Batangas Port Development Project, which is designed for domestic traffic, the PPA is reportedly going full steam ahead with the second phase which involves international cargo handing. Funded by a P5.5-billion loan from the JBIC, the second phase of the port would be a mixed operation of bulk and international containerized cargo, but it will not have a passenger terminal.

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After 12 public hearings on the botched $329.5-million national broadband network-ZTE deal which ended several months ago, the Senate has still nothing to show by way of a committee report?all because of the squabble over the issue of who should draft the report. Senators Richard Gordon, chairman of the Blue Ribbon committee, and Alan Peter Cayetano, his predecessor in the powerful panel, blame each other for the fiasco.

Even before assuming the Blue Ribbon committee last November, Gordon made it clear that Cayetano should be the one to write the report. This was what he requested Cayetano to do since he was the one who presided over all the hearings on the case.  He even assured the neophyte senator from Taguig that all the pertinent documents and technical people of the committee will be at his disposal.

The conflict reached breaking point, erupting right on the Senate floor Monday evening. We were shocked to hear the verbal tussle between the two. It turned out that Cayetano had not even started writing the report, with the alibi that the probe was not yet over.  He wanted Gordon to reopen the inquiry and summon former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. supposedly because the latter?s testimony is vital in determining the involvement of certain government officials in the allegedly fraudulent transaction.

I nearly fell off my seat when I heard Cayetano pass the buck to Gordon on the ground that he is in control of the committee. I felt it was a flimsy excuse for evading responsibility.

Meantime, the Office of the Ombudsman announced that it was about to come out with its findings and recommendations on the NBN-ZTE case. The moment the Ombudsman releases its report, any effort by the Blue Ribbon committee to produce its own report will be useless and superfluous.  That will make the Senate the laughingstock of the nation for failing in its investigative role.

f_maragay@yahoo.com