Travelers to and from Mindoro Island will soon enjoy the convenience of booking ferry tickets from their homes as the Philippine government prepares to relaunch its electronic ticketing system at key seaports, officials announced Monday.

The Electronic Ticketing Management System (ETMS), set to be reimplemented before year-end, will eliminate long queues at ticket counters in Batangas and Calapan ports, particularly benefiting thousands of daily commuters on this vital maritime route.

“Passengers can book and purchase tickets online and save time. They’ll no longer need to line up—from the comfort of their home, they can buy their tickets,” Department of Transportation (DOTr) Spokesperson Maricar Bautista said during a public information program in Laguna.

The Batangas-Mindoro corridor, one of the country’s busiest maritime routes handling 20,000 to 25,000 passengers daily, has long struggled with congestion issues, especially during holiday seasons when traveler numbers surge dramatically.

The ETMS, a digital platform managing booking, payment and electronic issuance of ferry tickets, was previously suspended in September 2022 and discontinued in 2023 under former Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista.

Transportation Secretary Vivencio Dizon, who took office in January, has made reviving the system a priority to address the chaos that regularly plagues the country’s busy ports.

“Let’s take advantage of what we have modernized. The PPA (Philippine Ports Authority) plans to revive it and Secretary Dizon said it will be implemented before the year ends,” Bautista added.

Maritime safety experts note that digital ticketing systems are crucial for preventing dangerous overcrowding on vessels.

The country has suffered numerous maritime disasters due to overloaded ferries.

Beyond convenience, the ETMS offers real-time monitoring of passenger volumes, helping authorities prevent vessel overloading while streamlining boarding processes through more efficient passenger flow management.

Philippine port authorities have struggled for decades to modernize ticketing systems at major ports, with passengers often enduring hours-long queues, ticket scalping, and chaotic boarding procedures, especially during peak travel periods.

File Photo: courtesy of DOTr