Truckers stage ‘holiday’ vs ban in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - Operations at the Manila International Container Port (MICP), South Harbor and the Manila North Harbor came to a standstill yesterday as truck owners and drivers stopped hauling cargo from the three ports after the Manila city government enforced a daytime truck ban to ease traffic.

Albert Suansing, director of the Confederation of Truck Association of the Philippines (CTAP), said the standstill was to be expected in view of the Manila government’s decision to impose the truck ban.

Former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada asked the operators and drivers of cargo trucks to give the daytime truck ban, which the city government started enforcing yesterday morning, a chance to prove its effectiveness within six months.

Dressed in camouflage jacket, Estrada led the implementation of the daytime truck ban that runs Mondays to Saturdays from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. with a window period when trucks would be allowed to travel from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“We are giving them a window from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. because this is an experimental implementation and because of the road repairs on Osmeña Highway,” Estrada said.

There are at least 6,000 trucks operating in Manila everyday, Estrada added.

Violators of the daytime truck ban will pay a fine of P5,000.

Bureau of Customs (BOC) officials said they are monitoring the developments at the MICP and the Port of Manila (POM) and they might give an assessment today.

If the truck holiday would be extended, the volume of cargo would pile up at the ports. At the same time no export shipment would be loaded on board cargo ships.

The Integrated North Harbor Truckers Association (INTHA) said they are calling on higher officials to intervene and settle the truck ban dispute, after their members engaged in a heated confrontation with Estrada and local police officers yesterday morning.

INTHA president Teddy Gervacio said that they are hoping people from Malacañang and other concerned government agencies such as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) would step into the controversy that has disrupted the flow of cargo.

Estrada and Manila policemen confronted the INTHA members that were participating in the demonstration and police towed two of the illegally parked trucks.

The police reportedly apprehended one of the truck drivers but he was able to escape.

Up until yesterday afternoon, the owner of the towed trucks have not paid the fee and left the trucks in the impounding area.

At the moment, Gervacio said they would not be taking any action on the commotion and the towing of the trucks.

Since they are observing the truck holiday, at least 50 trucks have remained parked at the Moriones Gate of the PPA in Tondo, Manila.

When asked until when they intend to hold the truck holiday, his answer was “indefinitely.”

INTHA is asking that Manila City Hall suspend the ordinance on the truck ban. They are waiting for Estrada to call them to a meeting.

“From the start we have not talked personally with Mayor Estrada, it was always Vice Mayor Francisco ‘Isko’ Dumagoso who was meeting with us,” he added.

Gervacio argued that their trucks were legitimately parked “because the vehicles were within the jurisdiction of the ports, which is run by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).”

He said PPA officials have told him that they would give a certification that the trucks were parked within the property line of the ports.

“We are expecting an intervention from higher office, from the national government directly affected by the halt of trucking services,” said Gervacio.

Suansing grimly predicted that the suspension of cargo movement from the three ports would continue in the next days as long as Manila does not scrap the truck ban.

The Manila truck ban is on top of the previous truck ban of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the window period is too small for trucks to travel, he said.

He also denied that there was a coordinated effort to stop truckers from deploying trucks into Manila.

There was a brief tense encounter between truck drivers and members of the Manila police inside North Harbor yesterday morning when some drivers parked their trucks beside the PPA Moriones gate at around 6 a.m., the start of the truck ban.

At around 6:30 a.m., Estrada arrived and held a dialogue with the protesting drivers.

When the mayor left the area after the dialogue, a group of policemen, including members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit, stayed to watch the protesters.

Estrada inspected several streets in Manila to see if there were trucks violating the new city ordinance and he set up a command post with 300 personnel of the Manila Traffic Bureau and the Manila Police District along Roxas Boulevard in front of the Manila Hotel.

“They (truckers) cannot refuse the daytime truck ban ordinance because it is now a law. It is always like that. There are those who object whenever we implement new laws. Like when we implemented the bus ban. Some objected and even issued threats. But we are ready for that and we are not afraid of the threats,” Estrada said.

Estrada cited the bus ban that was also opposed by operators and drivers but now the traffic scheme had decongested major roads in Manila.

“The city of Manila has become clear. The people liked the bus ban. They (truckers) should follow first and should we see it not effective, Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, the City Council and I will change it. They must follow first and stop issuing threats,” Estrada said.

Estrada brushed aside claims of the truck owners that the local and national economy would be affected by the daytime ban in Manila where the South and North harbors are located.

“We will not implement it if the economy will be affected. We had just talked to the businessmen, who are hiring and paying the truckers for the delivery of their products, and they agreed with us. They (businessmen) would have objected too if it will really affect them. This is only experimental. If I will see that it is not effective, then I will change it,” Estrada said.

Estrada said he does not mind if the trucks are owned by generals who are either retired or in active service.

“I have also been a president. Nobody is above the law. Whatever is the rank of the generals, they can never be above the law. We will not be afraid of their threats. Nobody is above law. The law should be followed whether you like it or not,” Estrada said.

Estrada said the city government is implementing the daytime truck ban to ease traffic in Manila.

“We are very much concerned about the students, teachers, employees, businessmen and other Filipinos who are traveling to Manila. They get late to their appointments because of heavy traffic caused by trucks,” Estrada said.

Estrada thanked his well-off businessmen friends for donating the new motorcycles and patrol cars equipped with closed circuit television in the front and rear.

Reaction of traders

Businessmen have mixed views on the truck ban.

Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport) president Sergio Ortiz-Luis, Jr. said in a telephone interview that their group welcomes the decision of the Mania city government to provide a window for

trucks to operate during daytime.

Following a meeting between MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino and Estrada, trucks were given a five-hour window from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to enter the city.

Ortiz-Luis said the window was proposed by Philexport along with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Employers Confederation of the Philippines in a meeting with Manila officials last week.

“It is not the best way but it is workable,” he said.

If truckers will continue to go on strike, he said it is the importers

and exporters who will suffer.

“I think that they should just try to make it work,” he said, adding

that importers and exporters could hire other vehicles to transport their shipments.

Amid calls to decongest traffic in the port of Manila, the industry

official said it is time to give it serious consideration.

For his part, Federation of Philippine Industries president George Chua said in a text message that their group opposes the truck ban, even with the window period.

“We are not in favor due to its adverse effect on business and employment,” he said.

In a statement, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines president Michael Raeuber said the truck ban would limit trucks to routes on longer stretches of city roads, which will then increase overall traffic.

“Expanding the ban on deliveries to the whole day and part of the night will lead to a port gridlock, collapse of supply – import and export, cost increases which ultimately will find their way to the consumers, and possible closure of companies operating in PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) zones in Central Luzon,” he said.

Consistent truck flow, he noted, will be needed to support the economy and growth in jobs.

He said the best way to reduce the impact of trucks on traffic and cut the percentage of utilization at logistics facilities is to allow trucks to have free flowing 24-hour movement across pre-determined streets in the metropolis using the most direct routes possible.

“The single best solution for all of the aforementioned issues is to eliminate all truck bans completely and formulate a proper, coordinated, and efficient 24-hour truck route regulation system,” he said.

Suansing said the delivery of products would be delayed due to the implementation of the daytime truck ban.

He said the truckers will not move and will continue their truck holiday or “stop-delivery protest” until the city government lifts the daytime truck ban.

“They shouldn’t look at trucks. Trucks are not strolling. It is delivering products,” Suansing said.

For his part, Vice Mayor Moreno asked the truck operators to abide by the truck ban.

Moreno made the call after receiving reports that some trucks were still crossing Lacson Avenue in Manila at past 5 a.m.

Aduana Truckers Association’s Mary Zapata also told a television interview that they would be on holiday and will not move their trucks while the daytime truck ban is in effect.

Gervacio urged Estrada to suspend implementation of the ban and hold a dialogue with truck operators.

“We are here to show our opposition to the implementation of the truck ban. We are appealing to Mayor Estrada… The daytime truck ban is too suppressive,” Gervacio said.

Gervacio said Manila is different from other cities in Metro Manila because it has the busiest ports.

He cited a study conducted by the University of the Philippines that showed 75 percent of the vehicles traveling in Metro Manila are private vehicles.

“According to the same UP study, the remaining 25 percent is composed of vehicles for hire, trucks, public utility vehicles such as jeepneys, buses and taxis. We are only big, but we are not the cause of traffic. We were removed from EDSA, but the traffic on EDSA has remained night and day,” Gervacio said.

“We will not park our trucks on streets to block traffic. Our trucks are parked inside the ports. We will not do anything that will cause trouble. We will remain here on the pier. There must be a status quo on the truck ban. What we are asking of Mayor Estrada is to suspend the implementation of the ordinance,” Gervacio added.

From Manila ports to Batangas port

Former Manila mayor and now Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza is reiterating his proposal for the government to shift cargo trucks from Manila’s ports to the Batangas port to ease traffic congestion in the metropolis.

If this were done, Atienza said 66 percent of cargo trucks would not enter Metro Manila and would be transporting goods from the Batangas City port to destinations in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region.

This is because 66 percent of cargo transported to and from Manila’s ports is destined for factories and businesses in Calabarzon, he said.

Atienza proposed the shift as a solution to the standoff between the city government of Manila and truckers.

With Jose Rodel Clapano, Jess Diaz, Evelyn Macairan, Louella Desiderio