Manila truck ban to derail PHL economy 

The citywide truck ban in Manila could derail the Philippine economy from achieving continued growth that Malacañang should step in and stop city from implementing the policy, according to an economist.

 

A major risk to the economic growth story is the truck ban in Manila, "an unwarranted exercise of power," University of Asia and the Pacific economist Vic Abola said during First Metro Investment Corp.'s mid-year briefing in Makati City.

 

"They should revoke the ban, because it's just creating traffic in other places and it's not delivering the goods," he said.

 

"The President needs to take action. Yes there's a problem, but the problem cannot be solved by one person," he added.

 

Last February, the local government banned cargo trucks from Manila's main thoroughfares from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., a move that created a backlog in deliveries to, through and from the Port of Manila.

 

Covered by the ban are cargo trucks, gravel and sand trucks, cement mixers, eight-wheelers and any truck with a gross vehicle weight of at least 4,500 kilograms. 

 

With the truck ban, cargo ships started forming a queue at the Port of Manila translating to higher freight costs and higher spoilage in terms of perishable products, Abola noted.

 

"There are some importers that are taking two to four weeks to get the goods brought down to the port, and then the problem of getting them out," he said.

 

"That's why we're seeing faster increase in food prices," he added.

 

Abola cited a Citi report which says economic losses from the truck ban could range between P61.2 billion to P320 billion.

 

"We are already feeling it and this is being felt in inflation rates," he said.

 

Lower prices of alcoholic beverages, tobacco and utilities helped June inflation slow down to 4.4 percent from 4.5 percent in June, but was still on the higher end of the 3 to 5 percent government target, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.

 

The government should look for a long-term solution to the problem in traffic and transfer of goods, Abola said. "But certainly, doing it overnight is not a solution."

 

"This requires a whole strategy of incentives and alternatives to make the system work consistent with the long term objective of moving more goods through Subic and Batangas," he added.



Despite ban cargo volume up 5%

 

MMDA data showed there are 79,850 cargo trucks and 13,615 trailers plying the streets of Metro Manila each day.

 

But even with the truck ban, cargo volume still increased by 5 percent in the first quarter, Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno said in an e-mail to GMA News Online.

 

"Data released by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) showed that while cargo volume slowed down in the first quarter of the year, it still inched up close to 5 percent to 44.94 million metric tons compared with 42.942 million MT in the same period last year," he said.

 

The vice mayor said the problem on the supply side is not because of the truck ban, but in the port system of the country.

 

"The problem of port congestion and system, or the lack of it, is something that the PPA and other concerned agencies should deal with," Moreno said.

 

"In fact, as the good professor pointed out, the Port of Batangas and Subic are underutilized and it's high time for the national government to address this concern," he added.

 

The vice mayor went on to say the truck ban only highlighted the apparent inadequacies in the Philippine port system.

 

"The effects of daytime truck ban is just being magnified but the fact is, there is already an existing truck ban from MMDA and we only added an hour in the morning and afternoon. Truckers have a 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. window... aside from the 24/7 Express Trade Lane we provided on Roxas Boulevard," Moreno said.

 

Last May 30, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said the city government and truck operators agreed to allow an "express trade lane" along Roxas Boulevard but the ban will remain in effect in other roads in the city.

 

However, UA&P's Abola said only 20 percent are able to use the express lane.

 

"The number of trucks using express lane is only 20 percent so the truckers will have to charge higher fees, apart from the [fees] of shipping companies," he said.

 

Under the modified truck ban policy, only trucks loaded with deliveries are exempted from the ban from Mondays to Saturdays as long as they use designated routes.

 

Trucks without cargo will only be allowed to use roads in Manila from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Mondays to Saturdays. – VS, GMA News