Cawit Port and Marinduque's primary and interior roads

The Port of Cawit that was re-opened in 2008, is situated on the mid-western side of mainland Marinduque serving as a major port for the towns of Boac, Gasan and Buenavista. It handles agricultural and trade products, construction materials and passenger services. Marinduque's other ports are Balanacan Port in Mogpog and Buyabod Port in Sta. Cruz.

Road in Cawit.

With the increasing number of passengers and quantity of cargoes serviced by Cawit Port, continued improvement of the port and its facilities are absolutely necessary. Beyond the port, small-island Marinduque's primary roads connecting the six municipalities that were mainly laid with basic concrete, asphalt, gravel and soil have now been replaced with thick concrete.

Thick concrete roads for heavy trucks.

Roads with considerable volume of vehicles particularly heavy trucks are poured with 10-inch thick concrete for better performance over a much longer period of time, in contrast to earlier DPWH practice. This road is part of the Marinduque Circumferential Road.

In interior Paye, Mogpog

On the other hand, due to bad roads in some interior portions of Marinduque most people living there have no choice except to hike the distance of from seven to eight kilometers to town. This is the case in barangays Guisian and Paye in northern Mogpog where a single jeepney plies the route only once in the morning and in the afternoon. 

Farm-to-market roads.

Roads that are in poor condition make it difficult for farmers to get their harvests to the market. The rehabilitation of these roads are usually the main concern of the affected barangays. This farm-to-market road project near the boundary of Guisian and Paye is a project of the DPWH sourced from Cong. Lord Allan Velasco's Priority Development Assistance Fund. This is also the case in other identified barangays where such projects are in various stages of implementation.

MORIONES 2009 IMAGES: RORO VESSEL & CRUISE SHIP

These two impressive buildings met at Cawit Port last Holy Week. Additional trip schedules were made by Montenegro Shipping Lines to accommodate the big number of people that flocked to Marinduque. Still not enough according to assessment - if one must insist on passenger comfort and safety. The culture of "puwede pa..." is so pervasive at this time of year.

MORIONES 2009 IMAGES: CRUISE SHIP TOURISTS

7107 Islands Cruise Ship included Marinduque in its 2009 Summer Cruise Special Package. The project was made possible in cooperation with the Office of the Governor and the Provincial Administrator. Coordination was also undertaken with the municipalities of Gasan and Boac, the tourism offices, the ports authorities, the jeepney operators and the Marinduque PNP (Philippine National Police).




Photos show the cruise-ship tourists at Cawit Port ready for their jeepney ride to Boac. Other shots of the cruise ship facilities were also taken by Gerry Jamilla.

7,107 CRUISE SHIP AT CAWIT PORT

7,107 ISLANDS CRUISE CALLS ON CAWIT PORT

Marinduque is now part of the 2009 Summer Cruise Special Package offered by 7,107 Islands Cruise, the only Filipino-owned cruise company. Initial cruises were scheduled in March & April and next in May. The cruise ship offers the amenities of a five-star hotel such as casino, bar, restaurant, sun decks, spa, pinao bar, gym and conference rooms. The summer cruise includes trips to Apo Reef, Tara Island and Coron departing from ports in Subic, Batangas and Manila. Capacity is 400 passengers. Photo taken on April 9 at Cawit Port, Boac.

MORE ON CAWIT PORT & MARINDUQUE AIRPORT, etc.

CAWIT PORT
Cawit Port, located in the municipality of Boac is identified as a most vital linkage connecting Marinduque to the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (Western Seaboard). Port rehabilitation which is part of the Luzon Urban Beltway project, has been completed and the port is set to open within October 2008.

The said Port, however, remains vulnerable to big waves brought about by strong winds coming from the southwest and northeast directions. This necessitates the construction of a breakwater structure that ensures the Port’s continued operation any time of the year, and its accommodation to most of the water transport traffic on the island-province.

A study and a preliminary plan for a Breakwater Structure for conversion of Cawit Port into an all-weather port, drawn up by the Provincial Engineer’s Office but that involves a staggering cost. The provincial government, however, could not cease to dream about converting it into an all-weather port.

Meanwhile, going to Marinduque is a lot easier now, particularly for residents of Boac, Gasan and Buenavista.

PORT OF MACALELON TO PORT OF BUYABOD

Governor Carrion has also made representations with the Governor of Quezon, Raffy Nantes to prioritize the Port of Macalelon in Quezon (directly north of Marinduque), to link it with the Port of Buyabod in Sta. Cruz. Eventual travel between this two ports will only take 45 minutes...


MARINDUQUE AIRPORT.

It is and always has been known as "Marinduque Airport" not "Masiga Airport", which continues to be used now and then.

The Marinduque Airport in Masiga, Gasan, the only existing commercial airport in Marinduque has not been in operation for the last four (4) years. A proposed runway extension to allow jets to service the airport costing PHP 161-Million has received the endorsement of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Civil Aeronautics Administration and is awaiting implementation.

It is of paramount importance, however, that the airport is opened to domestic flights, particularly 70-seater aircrafts, to boost the tourism thrust of the provincial administration and in response to increased public clamour.

This necessitates the rehabilitation of a somewhat deteriorated portion of the existing runway (measuring 486 m. x 30 m), through asphalt overlaying.

Provincial Board Member, Allan Nepomuceno, a former commercial pilot, has thoroughly inspected the airport condition and is instrumental in getting the nod of ZESTAIR to include the airport in their destinations with their 50-seater planes for now.

It should be stressed that domestic flight operations scheduled for next month or early December will not be hampered by the eventual implementation of the proposed runway extension earlier mentioned.

By the way, the ZESTAIR one-way airfare is less than P. 500.00! Asian Spirit is the former owners of said new airline company.

OF CAWIT PORT & MARINDUQUE AIRPORT

Hmm... Now it can be told after the long wait. Plans and projections apparently just couldn't be easily conveyed to those who have repeatedly kept asking about the status of the above matters. They get stalled. But now, Cawit Port has been reopened since October 8 (it should have been re-opened on Oct. 2), but Marinduque was placed under signal no. 1 because of a tropical depression (the island was to be directly hit after a day), but the typhoon never came. (Vice-President Noli de Castro was supposed to visit Marinduque the day after - Oct. 2, for the Mimaropa Regional Development Council meeting which had to be postponed on the 13th due to the threat of bad weather).

M/V REBECCA, a huge 4-storey RORO owned by Montenegro Lines now plies the Cawit-Dalahican (Talao-Talao) Port daily, leaving Cawit at 12:00 noon and 8:00pm. Now Cawit Port is again abuzz with life and the residents of Bunganay and Cawit are happy again.

The MARINDUQUE AIRPORT on the other hand await the touchdown of a 50-seater ZESTAIR (labelled as "a new refreshing brand of airline"), which is ready to serve passengers starting November or December this year (a specific date in November was mentioned in press releases but local sources revealed that it really is first week of December. Maybe best to browse through the airline's website at http://www.zestair.com.ph/. I haven't had the time today.

So that's two of the most frequently asked questions being answered.

Vice-President "Kabayan" Noli visited Marinduque last October 13 after the postponement of the RDC Council Meet. Governor Carrion took up with him certain issues and concerns about Marinduque. That included the said port and airport yes, the hospital and other important matters taken up by the Marinduque government with the President in other venues, which certainly needed follow-ups.

Ecstatic about the opening of the airport is Provincial Administrator Allan Q. Velasco, who met with the Provincial Tourism Council yesterday in preparation for what may well be the biggest Moriones Festival celebration in years! The airport opening is a shot in the arm at this time, indeed!