BOC braces for Manila truck ban

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is preparing for whatever will happen once Manila starts to impose its daytime truck ban on Monday, an official said yesterday.

“What I am telling my collectors is that let us monitor the situation…Would it help if we would be able to extend the operating hours? Let us be flexible, if there is a need to adjust our operating hours then we would make the adjustment,” BOC Commissioner John Sevilla said.

Since adjusting the BOC’s operating hours would entail additional operating expenses, Sevilla appealed to the Department of Budget and Management to give them additional funds to hire more employees and have their existing employees work overtime to speed up the processing of documents to release shipments. 

Sevilla said they could avoid bottlenecks in the movement of cargo if importers or brokers would pay the proper duties and taxes before 5 p.m. and leave the container yard by 1 a.m.

The Manila city government passed an ordinance that bans eight-wheeler trucks from going through the city’s streets from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. However, during a recent meeting with stakeholders, the city government agreed to modify the ban to allow trucks on Manila’s streets from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Use Batangas port instead

In a related development, former Manila mayor and now Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza urged the BOC and the city government yesterday to decongest Manila’s ports of cargo trucks to ease traffic in the metropolis.

He said he was supporting the call of Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu for the government to maximize the use of the P5.5-billion international port in Batangas City.

“We urge the BOC to unload cargo intended for the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) area at the newly renovated Batangas port and maximize the use of this facility. This will greatly lessen the volume of cargo trucks traversing Metro Manila roads,” he said.

Quoting port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc., he said 66 percent of cargo unloaded in Manila’s ports are intended for the Calabarzon area.

Atienza pointed out that if the number of cargo trucks ferrying goods and raw materials to and from Manila’s ports were reduced, traffic congestion would ease, particularly along South Luzon Expressway and the Skyway, which transporters use in going to areas south of the metropolis. – Evelyn Macairan, Jess Diaz