Efforts to decongest ports progressing – Palace

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang said yesterday efforts to decongest the ports were progressing and that importers and forwarders were now being urged to reduce trucking rates back to where they were prior to the congestion.

On March 2, Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras announced that operations at the Port of Manila had completely normalized but some business groups expressed skepticism.

In the past three days, the Asian Terminals Inc. reported that they only had one ship waiting, Almendras said, adding that as of yesterday, five berths at ATI and one berth at the International Container Terminal Services Inc. were empty and that no ships were waiting.

“The utilization rate of ICTSI is low at 69 percent from a high of 105 percent in May 2014,” Almendras said.

“As such, the port operators have been urging importers and forwarders that trucking rates must be reduced to the rates prior to the congestion,” he said.

While port congestion had been resolved as of late February, the Palace also conceded that this would be a continuing challenge.

“Of course, government is aware that seasons change and that there are different needs depending on a particular season,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over dzRB on Saturday as she assured that the administration would endeavor to keep the Port of Manila free from congestion.

Valte said government was “anticipating” the increase in volume of cargos during certain months of the year.

Business groups have remained skeptical of claims made by the government that operations at the port of Manila have “completely normalized” and that congestion has been resolved.

“We do intend to sustain the current situation and we are always ready to communicate and to work with these groups to hear their suggestions as well as their concerns,” Valte said.

The Semiconductor and Electronics Industries of the Philippines Inc. (Seipi), the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc. (ECCP) expressed reservations as they pointed out that while there were improvements compared to the situation last year, it still remained to be seen whether this could be sustained at the start of the peak season in the second half of the year.