Yesterday I attended a meeting with stakeholders together with Cebu Port Authority (CPA) officials led by general manager Vice-Adm. Edmund Tan (Ret), Bureau of Customs Cebu head B. Gen. Roberto Almadin (Ret), lawyer Tomas Riveral of Oriental Port and Allied Services Corp. (OPASCOR), Department of Trade & Industry, Inc. (DTI-7) regional director Aster Caberte, Cebu Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Inc. (CCCI) president Ma. Teresa Chan, and PhilExport Cebu executive director Fred Escalona.
When you hear any talk about port congestion, you'd think that people are referring to the problem in the Port of Manila. Well, apparently the Cebu port is also congested. I never ever thought that the port of Cebu, which is one of the longest ports in the country, would someday experience congestion. But then this is one visible proof of Cebu's economic strength and so now we have to solve this problem.
I was seated beside my friends, Alan Suarez of PhilExport and Gabby Cruz of the Truckers Association, and we heard the power-point presentation of Opascor's chief legal officer Atty. Annabel Pulvera-Page that gave us a bird's eye view of what is happening inside the Port of Cebu. She also acknowledged that the congestion at the port has become a problem.
While the congestion in Cebu has not yet reached a critical point like in the Port of Manila, I'm happy that both the government officials and the private sector are finding ways to fix the problem today. But from the healthy discussion with the stakeholders, it seems that the problem has been pinpointed to some 200 container vans that have already been cleared by the Bureau of Customs… or abandoned by its importers or both.
From the way I size up the comments of B. Gen. Almadin, his problem stems from the fact that the Department of Finance (DoF) has not learned to give some kind of authority to the BOC officials here. Simple requests for overtime of Customs officials need the approval of Manila. Again, it boils down to the fact that these are very minor issues where authority should be given to the officials on the ground.
Like what I said, while congestion has not reached a critical level, it is a wakeup call for us in Cebu. We already wrote to Mayor Adelino Sitoy of Cordova to say that when the 3rd bridge that will soon go up between Cebu City and Cordova, land should be reclaimed near the bridge that should be reserved for container vans, just like most of the world's largest ports.
Perhaps our problem stems from the fact that most of us are comfortable or contented with our current day-to-day life. This is why we have traffic congestion, thanks to the road works by the Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) that only work from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m where traffic is at its peak. If I was put in charge of the DPWH, I'd turn it into a Call Center… meaning, DPWH would be working the same hours as a Call Center, when people are asleep and traffic is minimal.
As for the congestion at the port … one Band-Aid solution is for the BOC, Opascor, the Truckers Association, and, yes, all the importers to do a three-month fast tracking of the processing of their containers in order to speed up deliveries. If they agree to this scheme, the congestion would soon disappear.
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If you've been following the Senate investigation on the ill-fated mission that killed 44 Special Action Force (SAF) soldiers, it would seem that the whitewashing of this case has already begun. First of all, we were all made to believe that the name of that operation was Oplan Wolverine… now as things are turning out… the mission was called Oplan Exodus. Why was this not told to the public in the first place?
That Senate investigation apparently triggered more questions than answers. One important statement that came from sacked PNP SAF chief Getulio Napeñas was when he literally cleared his "boss," resigned PNP Chief Alan Purisima, who told the senators that he did not give an order to Napeñas not to inform DILG Secretary Mar Roxas or PNP deputy director General Leonardo Espina, but rather "advised" Napeñas.
This is what happens when you have liars appear before a Senate investigation that will not give justice to the fallen 44 SAF soldiers. These people play around with words. Just to give you an example of an order vs. an advice: If you go to a bank manager to ask for a loan and you do not have any collateral to show, the bank manager would "advise" you to secure collateral. Now do you take his word on advisement or is it an order?