The Port Management Office of Lanao del Norte/Iligan is one of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) ports located along the northern central coastal areas of Mindanao facing the Iligan Bay. The Port of Iligan is its baseport.
History of Iligan Baseport. The Spanish Colonial Government started to develop the seaport of Iligan in the early 18th century. The earliest structure was constructed at Nonocan, adjacent to the present site of Marcelo Fertilizer Corporation. However, it remained unfinished. In 1899, the Spaniards abandoned Iligan. The then Gobernadorcillo, Hilarion Ramiro, received the Americans under the Command of Capt. Smith who landed in 1900 with seven gunboats anchored at Iligan Bay. The Americans constructed the first wooden pier at Camp Overton. In 1933, under the U.S. Government, the Bureau of Public Works constructed the first concrete pier at the south end of the present port area. The earliest customers of Pier 1 were Bapor Lalok, Escaño, and Isidoropons, plying between Iligan and Cebu.
Another port improvement carried on during the American regime was the construction of Pier 2, on the north side. It was constructed in 1939 together with the Old Hinaplanon Bridge. But to discourage Japanese colonizers from landing in Iligan, the two pier structures were blasted in 1942 by the USAFFE. Both pier structures (Piers 1 & 2) underwent a major repair in 1947 under the American rehabilitation project. The Bureau of Public Works constructed the reinforced concrete (R.C.) wharf in 1963.
PPA-Port Management Unit of Iligan (PPA-PMU Iligan) formally took over the management and supervision of its ports on 1-August-1977. Since then, PPA has implemented several port improvement projects in the Port of Iligan such as: concrete paving of the open storage areas, construction of perimeter fence; rehabilitation of the R.C. pier and wharf; installation of rubber dock fenders, southward expansion of the R.C. Wharf to connect it to R.C. Pier 2, increasing its length from 240m to 360m; and the reclamation of its back-up area covering about 4,000 sqm. The latest improvement is the alternate access road.
On 1-February-1988, PPA underwent reorganization renaming PMUs to Port Management Offices (PMOs) including PMO Iligan. In 2014, PPA had undergone Rationalization Plan (RATPLAN) renaming PMO Iligan to PMO Lanao del Norte/Iligan (PMO LNI).
The PMO LNI serves the port users from the hinterlands of the provinces of Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, and parts of Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental and Zamboanga del Sur.
Moreover, PMO LNI is an ISO 9001:2015 certified for Quality Management System (QMS) for vessel entrance clearance process and International Code for the Security of Ships and Port Facilities (ISPS) compliant valid from 6-July-2018 until 5-July-2023.
PMO-LNI has 11 private ports: PHOENIX LPG PHILIPPINES, INC. (liquefied petroleum gas); PILMICO FOODS CORP (flour and feeds); REPUBLIC CEMENT ILIGAN, INC. (cement); GRANEXPORT MANUFACTURING CORP (coconut crude oil, copra pellets, and cochin); SAN MIGUEL CORP OIL MILL (coconut crude oil, copra pellets, and cochin); PETRON CORP (petroleum); PILIPINAS SHELL PETROLEUM CORP (Petroleum); GLOBAL STEEL PHILIPPINES INC. (hot rolled coils, and cold rolled coils); MABUHAY VINYL CORP (caustic soda, chlorine, hydrogen chloric acid, sodium hypo chloride); AC ENERGY HOLDINGS, INC./GN POWER KAUSWAGAN, INC. (power) and DAIMA SHIPPING CORP (RORO vehicles).
Under PMO LNI, is the Terminal Management Office of Tubod (TMO-Tubod). TMO-Tubod is about 69 kilometers from Iligan City and about 12 nautical miles from the Port of Ozamiz across Panguil Bay. Under TMO Tubod is Kolambugan Port. Between 1977 and 1996, the port had active port traffic. Vessels of Tamula Shipping used to ferry cargoes and passengers from the Port of Kolambugan to the Port of Ozamiz and vice versa. However, the ferry services of Tamula Shipping halted in late 1996 because of the introduction of more modern, more convenient and faster RoRo ferry services by Daima Shipping Corp and Millenium Shipping, which operated their own private ports and ferry services in Mukas, and Tabigue, Kolambugan, Lanao del Norte, respectively. However, Millennium Shipping also halted its shipping services in 2003.
“The enhanced port facilities will be of great help to bring much needed materials and equipment to hasten the rehabilitation of Marawi City. In the 2008 pacification campaign in areas around Lanao Lake, I initiated the deployment of 2 patrol boats (PBLs) from Zamboanga City via the Iligan Port as Commander, Naval Forces Western Mindanao. Those boats deterred the movements of unauthorized armed groups in that waterway for the duration of the campaign,” retired Vadm Emilio C. Marayag Jr. said.
By 2020, PPA-PMO LNI’s vision is to provide port services of global standards. PMO LNI is led by Engr. Salvador L. Delina as the new Port Manager starting 11-January-2019.