PPA: Delay expected in int’l ports but no congestion in Philippines

Though delays are expected in international ports amid the Christmas season, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) on Thursday assured the public that there will be no congestion in ports in the country.

“Inaasahan natin na magkakaroon siguro ng mga onti-onting delay. Dito 'yan sa mga international port gaya nitong mga nakaraan sa Los Angeles and sa China port,” PPA spokesperson Eunice Samonte said at the public briefing.

(We are expecting a slight delay in international ports like what happened previously at the Los Angeles and China ports.)

“Pero ang Philippine Ports Authority dito sa atin, tinitiyak natin na wala tayong mga port congestion (But the Philippine Ports Authority will ensure that we have no congestion),” she added.

Samonte said the country’s ports have a yard utilization rate of 84.98%.

“Ibig sabihin, meron pang space at walang pagbabara o backlog, congestion dito sa ating mga ports (This means that there is still space and we have no backlog in our ports),” she said.

She said balikbayan boxes can arrive within a week or for as long as two months.

“Para sa domestic, meron tayong inaasahan na one week at kapag naman foreign or international nasa one to two months. So ibig sabihin, paalala natin sa ating mga kababayan na maaga sana sila magpadala,” she said.

(For domestic packages, we can expect it within one week and for foreign or international packages, around one to two months. So we are advising our countrymen to send out their cargos early.)

Meanwhile, Samonte said the PPA will launch a monitoring system for cargo and balikbayan boxes by December. This is the Container Registry and Monitoring System.

She also said no tariff hikes for ports is expected this year and next year.

“Tinitiyak ni General Manager Jay Santiago na stable ang tariff hike natin so walang pagtataas na nakikita dito by this year at sa susunod pang taon. So as of now, no impending tariff hike,” she said.

(General Manager Jay Santiago is ensuring that the tariff is stable so we don’t expect any increase this year and the following year. So, as of now, there is no impending tariff hike.)—AOL, GMA Integrated News