Truck ban paralyzes BOC, port operations

Affected truckers and porters stage a picket in front of Moriones gate at the Port Area in Manila on Tuesday, on the second day of the implementation of an expanded truck ban in the city. INQUIRER PHOTO/NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Customs (BOC) said private businesses as well as the government’s revenue collections had been hurt by the extension of the truck ban in Manila.

In a statement, the BOC said that on the first day of the ban on Monday, the release of container vans from the Manila International Container Port (MICP) dropped from an average of 2,150 per day to just four.

Also, the release of container vans from the Port of Manila (POM) fell from an average of 1,200 per day to zero.

Under the new policy, trucks and other vehicles with gross weight of at least 4,500 kilograms, except those carrying petroleum and perishable goods, are not allowed in the streets of Manila from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.  This is seven hours longer than the previous scheme.

The move is intended to ease traffic congestion in the city that is expected to worsen as two major road projects—one linking South Luzon Expressway to North Luzon Expressway and another connecting Ninoy Aquino International Airport to the Entertainment City—were launched last week.

Potential income losses from traffic jams amount to P2.4 billion daily, according to a study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The BOC, however, said the new policy was bad for business and for the government’s coffers.

In a statement, the bureau said that the drop in the release in the number of container vans had resulted in the “dramatic decline in revenue collections” in the two ports.

The MICP and POM are two of the biggest ports in the country, accounting for about 48 percent of the BOC collections.

The BOC said on Monday collections at the MICP dropped by 27 percent from a daily average of P360 million to P262.8 million, while those at the POM fell by 47 percent from a daily average of P253 million to P134.4 million.

Customs Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla said the BOC would find ways to address the adverse effect of the extended truck ban in Manila on businesses.

“While there are conditions and factors that are beyond the control of the BOC, we are ready to adjust to the needs of importers and other stakeholders,” he said without mentioning specific measures.

The impact of the extended truck ban is expected to pose a challenge to the BOC’s efforts to ramp up revenue collections.

The BOC, which the Aquino administration claims to have just entered the “reform period,” last year fell short of its revenue collection target of P340 billion, collecting only about P304 billion.

This year, the BOC is tasked to collect P408 billion.

Last month, the bureau failed to meet its P31.3-billion revenue target with collections of only P29.36 billion, or a shortfall of P1.94 billion. The collections were 6.2 percent off the agency’s goal for the 21-day trading period.

Still, the revenues were P4.82 billion, or 19.6 percent more than the P24.54 billion the bureau collected during the same period in 2013.

There is no truck ban on Saturdays and Sundays. Exempted from the ban are trucks carrying perishables and petroleum products, as well as vehicles carrying materials intended for government projects.

A senior BOC official said Mayor Joseph Estrada’s move was a “lose-lose situation,” noting the “decline in the agency’s revenue collections and income losses for trading firms with the delay in the release of their imported goods.”—With a report from Jerry E. Esplanada

RELATED STORIES

Protests greet new truck ban in Manila

Truck strike starts Monday in Manila

Gov’t doing intensive consultation on truck ban in Manila