MANILA, —The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is set to receive another Green Port Award for its Cagayan de Oro Port, a testament that the agency remains critical to achieving sustainable port operations.
PPA said the award was a culmination of group efforts in its CDO Port, under the Port Management Office of Misamis Oriental/Cagayan de Oro, to maintain efficient operating processes while maintaining a high level of balance with the environment.
The Cagayan De Oro port is dubbed as the Global Gateway to Mindanao for its strategic location at the Northern Coast of Mindanao within Macajalar Bay. The port serves as the entry and exit point of passengers and goods to and from the adjacent urban cities and provinces and other parts of the Philippine archipelago. It also links conveyances to countries such as Vietnam, China, Australia, and the United States, among others.
In a letter sent to PPA by the APEC Port Services Network signed by its Secretary-General Jia Dashan dated 11 October 2021, it was stressed that the CDO port has satisfactorily complied with the scorecard laid out by experts in its Green Port Award System or GPAS.
“The GPAS Evaluation Committee has reviewed and evaluated all the applications for GPAS 2021 and scored each applicant according to its compliance to the various indicators,” Dashan explained in the letter.
“The score of your application has reached the criteria of GPAS, and I am very pleased and honored to advise you that the Port of Cagayan de Oro is again awarded the GPAS 2021,” Dashan revealed.
The GPAS Award Ceremony, on the other hand, will be on the 16th of November 2021 during the APEC Smart Port Development Forum in Qingdao, China through a virtual process.
The GPAS program, meanwhile, is a green evaluation system for ports in the APEC region. The program is intended to improve environmental awareness as well as increase the understanding of green port development strategy, with the aim of achieving a balance between economic development and environmental protection in the APEC ports community; promoting the sustainable development of ports in the APEC region and protect the port environment for the benefit of the entire APEC community; contribute to the harmonization of regulations and improve the interoperability of green port systems in the APEC region; establish an APEC green port performance benchmark based on this program, share best practices and encourage mutual assistance among APEC ports.
PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago is both honored and happy upon learning of the award stating that the additional environmental protection measures will be implemented in the future in order to achieve its commitment to reducing the carbon footprint in its port operations.
“PPA is committed heavily in the adoption of measures to fully protect the environment and reduce the carbon footprint of ports in the continuing fight against Climate Change,” Santiago said.
“This award is a big boost to PPA particularly now that we are in the midst of preparing and developing the PPA Port Environmental Code, which will define the priorities of the PPA in terms of environmental protection.,” Santiago explained.
Aside from the CDO Port—a multiple GPAS awardee, Batangas Port has also given the same recognition a couple of years ago. The two ports, meanwhile, are Certified to ISO 9001:2008 and recognized for their implementation of the Port Safety, Health, and Environmental Management System (PSHEMS). The two ports also successfully migrated to the Integrated Management System fusing in three international standards, namely: ISO 9001:2015 for Quality Management System, ISO 14001:2015 for Environmental Management System, and 45001:2018 for Occupational Health and Safety Management, to further solidify its quality, safety, health and environmental policies, and commitment for the protection of the environment, provision of safe and healthy working conditions and improved quality of port operations and services.
