by Joann Santiago, Phippine News Agency | Tuesday, 21 June 2016
Incoming Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon plans to utilize the ports of Batangas and Subic to put an end to the congestion problem in the port of Manila.
”But of course we will be coordinating with our stakeholders, the traders, because they are the number one to be affected by the direction of the ports of destination of goods,” he told reporters at the sidelines of the second day of the two-day business consultation dialogue dubbed “Sulong Pilipinas: Hakbang Tungo sa Kaunlaran (Philippines Onwards: A Step Towards Progress), which started Monday at the SMX in this city.
Faeldon is optimistic that congestion problem in the Port of Manila can be addressed within the year “if there’s no law that will prohibit us to do that.
”I’m seeing that it’s not really a hard objective to attain. I consider this a low-lying fruit that can be easily done as long as the traders will agree because they are the ones who will be affected,” he added.
Congestion in the Port of Manila registered it worst in 2014 after the City of Manila implemented an expanded truck bank in February of that year.
The truck ban was implemented until September of the same year, after the national government and the business sector urged the city government to reconsider its expanded truck ban schedule given its negative impact on the over-all economy.
The said port congestion problem weakened the domestic economy’s expansion in 2014, after full-year growth, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), registered at 6.1 percent as against the 6.5-7.5 percent target of the state.
In September 2014, President Benigno Aquino III signed Executive Order (EO) 172 declaring the ports of Subic and Batangas as extensions of the Port of Manila in time of congestion and emergency situations.
The EO said foreign vessels that are supposed to use the Port of Manila their destination or origin may be directed to the two ports in the north and south of Manila as alternate ports. Birthing points of the affected vessels will still remain to be the Port of Manila. (PNA)
