The holiday cheer among Manila port users may turn into a sneer next month if government agencies concerned and the private sector go on break in the next two weeks, resulting in the slower movement of goods.
The warning was issued Tuesday by the Port Congestion Multisectoral Working Group (PCMWG) which said that there could be fewer consumer products in stores by January should the port congestion problem worsen.
Ernesto Ordoñez, PCMWG cochair, stressed that “if we do not take preemptive action, we will see congested ports again.”
“Assuming the same slow movement of goods during the holidays, port congestion will likely reach 107 percent by the end of the holidays,” he pointed out.
According to him, “port congestion has increased by 3 percent a day since last weekend,” citing data from the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT).
Ordoñez warned that “if people relax too much and go on holiday mode, exports and imports will be delayed, investments will suffer and jobs will be lost.
For his part, Jesus Arranza, chair of the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), reported that the ports were “no longer as congested as before.”
The PCMWG is composed of firms belonging to the FPI and Makati Business Club, among others.
“The situation has improved,” Arranza said, noting “at the MICT, port utilization is currently at 81 percent, lower than the 105-percent congestion at the height of the Manila truck ban.”
As for Manila’s South Harbor, “it’s 80 percent today compared to 100 percent during the truck ban days,” he added.
From 2,200 containers of imported goods released each day during the imposition of the truck ban, “it has increased to 4,600. At Manila’s South Harbor, it’s now 1,100 containers a day from only 750 during the truck ban period,” he said.
Arranza pointed out that “in the past, as many as 29 vessels waited to discharge their cargo at the MICT. Now, it’s down to 15. At the South Harbor, from 15 during the truck ban days, it’s only four today.”
But at the same time, he urged the Bureau of Customs and other agencies involved in port operations to “coordinate and stay open as much as possible during the holidays.”
Imposed by the Manila government, the expanded truck ban prohibited cargo trucks from plying the city’s streets between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. The ban has since been suspended indefinitely by Mayor Joseph Estrada after it was blamed for the port congestion problem.
The PCMWG, meanwhile, called on the Bureau of Internal Revenue to “streamline the importers’ accreditation process by eliminating cumbersome and unnecessary data requirements for the issuance of importers’ clearance certificates…to result in speedier flow of trade.”