No more congestion in Port of Manila, Palace says; PCCI disagrees 

(UPDATED 6:17 p.m.) Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras on Monday reiterated that the Aquino administration has completely ironed out the problem of congestion in the Port of Manila.

Almendras made the remark despite what he called a higher volume of cargo processed during the start of the year.

"Congestion is completely over at Manila International Container Ports despite higher than normal volumes handled during the first quarter of this year," Almendras said in a statement.

Almendras also said that the port congestion fees imposed last year have been scrapped.

"A number of carriers calling at MICT have removed their 'Port Congestion and other Surcharges.' This was a charge implemented by the carriers at the time congestion was experienced at the Port of Manila," Almendras said.

"This proves beyond doubt that there is no more congestion at the Manila International Container ports, thus the charge no longer needs to be implemented," he added.

"The remaining shipping lines are seeking approval from their regional headquarters to drop their surcharges within the month. We also look forward to the return of trucking rates to its normal levels prior to the congestion," Almendras said.

Lower trucking rates

Sergio Ortiz-Luiz Jr., Chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) expressed doubts that the problem of port congestion was well and truly solved.

“The first time he said it, I had doubts, I had to check if may problema pa. Now, I haven’t checked yet. There have been improvement, but the first time they said it, we were not in agreement,” he said.

Instead, Ortiz-Luiz said that for the situation to be called normal, all charges related to the port congestion problem should disappear, and trucking and shipping rates should normalize, or even go lower than the prices prior to port congestion.

“Yung mga exporters, unless the cost of trucking goes back to normal or even lower [then may problema pa] kasi it went up because of that. To me, pagbumaba, bumalik sa regular yung rates, or it goes even lower because fuel is cheaper now, then I would say it’s totally over. Pero pag di pa bumababa, may problema pa rin,” he said.

“There are still complaints na yung shipping lines, there are extra charges. May mga penalities, of not being able to load,” he said.

Port of Manila extensions

Port congestion reached its peak late last year, and at the last few months of 2014, the government stepped up efforts to address the problem, including shipping out overstaying cargoes.

President Benigno Aquino III has signed an executive order declaring the Batangas and Subic ports as extensions of the Port of Manila to encourage their use as alternate piers in case of congestion.

A Cabinet cluster also passed a resolution allowing some truckers to have all-day access to the ports.

As part of measures to decongest the container terminals, the government significantly raised fines imposed on overstaying cargo to discourage importers and brokers from leaving their container vans at the port facilities.

The government lost some P70 billion due to port congestion from April to September last year, according to National Economic and Development Authority. —NB, GMA News