Although shipments are “moving well” at Manila’s two cargo terminals, government preparations ahead of the two events will disrupt the flow of traffic and goods, Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras said at a media briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday.

The Secretary, who heads the interagency cluster tasked with easing congestion in the ports, appealed to shippers “to withdraw their shipments from the Manila ports in the next three days and during the weekend.”

“We have the Feast of the Black Nazarene where we know trucks won’t be able to move, especially during the procession. Then, next week, we have a very important visitor and we expect that as early as Friday there will again be a disruption on the flow of traffic and goods,” he said.

“We are appealing to the private sector, we are appealing to the importers, to all the cargo handlers: Can you please pull out as much of your cargos now while we are able to? What do we mean by now? That’s Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This is a good time for you to withdraw, to pull out all the cargo -- Saturday and Sunday -- since next week we only have Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. By Thursday all the activities will be starting already on securing the routes of the Pope and all the facilities and the barriers will be up. There will be restriction to traffic flows by that time. So, naturally, the flow of goods from the port will also be affected,” Mr. Almendras added.

Mr. Almendras noted that government offices will be open to ensure the necessary processing to allow cargo movements out of the ports. He also said government agencies like the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Bureau of Customs, among others are already “on board”. The government, he added, also plans to move out as many empty containers as possible during the holidays accompanying the Pope’s visit.

“We already have an agreement, an arrangement with the shipping lines. This is, again, targeted to decongest the empty containers left in our country,” he said, adding that so far, there are still around 60,000 empty containers in the Philippines, about double the ideal level of around 30,000.

Mr. Almendras further said the government is currently in “the final stages of preparing some measures to encourage the movement of these empty containers through other ports.”

Philippine Ports Authority General Manager Juan C. Sta. Ana said the matter of stepped-up cargo movements was agreed upon during the Cabinet Cluster on Port Congestion meeting on Monday.

“I support Secretary Almendras. We discussed that Monday in the Cabinet Cluster committee. We appeal to the importers, brokers and truckers,” he said in a text message.

Metro Manila’s population is expected to swell with millions of Catholic devotees when Pope Francis is in the capital. One day of his five-day visit will be spent in Leyte.

Malacañang declared three days of holidays in Metro Manila in connection with the Pope’s visit.

Sought for comment yesterday, Management Association of the Philippines President Gregorio S. Navarro said via text: “I believe the private sector is keenly aware of the challenges, the Nazarene translation is annual but the long holidays because of the Pope’s visit is quite a challenge.”

“We urge that the Customs and the Port authorities as well as the MMDA and cities to have 24-hour operations too, a week before and after the long holidays to afford port users extra time (24 hours without truck ban) to catch up with their held-up cargoes,” he said.

European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Vice-President Henry J. Schumacher, for his part said: “Business has prime interest to withdraw cargo and get cargo into the port. Business would appreciate if MMDA would limit its truck bans to essential times and very selected areas. MMDA is very much part of creating the trucking mess.”

John D. Forbes, senior adviser of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines for his part said the hope that the private sector move out its cargo faster from the Manila ports in the weeks ahead comes with the hope that the government comes out with a longer-term solution that will ensure higher truck traffic, including plans for elevated highway access to Manila container terminals. -- Imee Charlee C. Delavin 

Source: Business World Online