No more port congestion – Customs Lina assures BOC ready for Christmas influx

MANILA, Philippines – There will be no repeat of last year’s port congestion.

Local ports have been told to ensure enough capacity for the ongoing cargo influx for the Christmas season and “divert” shipments if necessary as preparations mount to avoid the piling up of undelivered cargoes just like last year.

“We are prepared. We are doing all we can and we are in close coordination with other agencies on it. We don’t think it (port congestion) will happen again,” Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina told The STAR in an interview.

Should there be a necessity however, ports have been instructed to move excess cargoes from one port to another to free up space, also in a bid to save time and ensure their timely delivery, Customs said in a statement.

“Ports have already been inspected and given direction should there be a need to divert entries to other ports in the latter part of the year, we will do so, rather than making our shipments wait in the anchorage,” it explained.

“(The) Commissioner himself visited Port of Manila this week,” it added.

“The ports are prepared as well as the warehouses.”

In addition, Lina said the bureau is likewise coordinating with the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to ensure roads around the ports are cleared amid the worsening traffic condition in Metro Manila.

As of September, port utilization is around 65 percent, far from a high of around 90 percent last year after the city government of Manila imposed a tighter truck ban plying around its area from February to the middle of September. 

The ban, said to be targeted on decongesting roads around the capital, had an undesired effect of limiting cargo deliveries in and out of the Metro. This, in turn, resulted in lower supplies, increasing consumer prices and impacting on economic growth.

Aside from current preparations, Lina also said Customs officers continue to work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily in order to facilitate cargo inspection on a timely basis. Reforms undertaken by the Aquino administration will also help the bureau.

One of them is Republic Act 10668, which amended the Cabotage law to allow freer access to local ports by foreign vessels.

Under the law signed last July, shipments for areas outside Manila may now be directly sent to any ports in the country. Before, these cargoes will need to be cleared first by the Manila port before getting shipped to their destination.

Sought for comment, businesses had mixed views of Customs’ assurance.

Alfredo Yao, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said port congestion is already unlikely since most Christmas goods are arriving from September to October.

“If they are saying that we are only on 65 percent port utilization, then that is good, especially since the goods for Christmas are already arriving,” Yao said in phone interview over the weekend.

“I don’t think it can worsen anymore. At the most, few more Christmas goods will arrive until mid-November. But the height really is from September to October,” he added.