MANILA - (UPDATED) Business enterprises in northern and central Luzon have looked at Subic port as a viable alternative to the congested Manila port since the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Cabotage Law was implemented, Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC) president Roberto Locsin said on Monday.

The port is likely to exceed last year's 120,000 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) cargo volumes as two international shipping lines from France and China are expected to make their port calls in Subic this year.

A one-stop shop cut port document processing time from one day to four hours in August, making Locsin confident that cargo volumes will double in the next few years.

"There's a plan that has been submitted for a connector road that is going to connect Morong and Mabiga, that is on the SCTEX, and that helps also to connect Dinalupihan. What that does is it reroutes cargo volume on a separate road, which maintains the integrity of the SCTEX to light passenger vehicles. I think that's going to expand the reach and capacity of the road infrastructure once the industrial estates come on stream all along the Subic-Clark corridor," Locsin told ANC.

Subic Terminal's annual capacity is 600,000 TEUs, but only 20 percent is currently being utilized.

Locsin urged government to give businesses more tax holidays and incentives to encourage them to make their port of calls in Subic.

"We need to create more space for investors. We do a good job with facilitating a certain amount of square meter area for companies that want to set up shop here, but I think we have to look at the much larger picture. We're talking about the growth of five provinces that are extremely critical to the success of Luzon. We're looking at Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan, Tarlac and Zambales," he said.