Exporters plead for P1-B aid deal

Exporters of homestyle products have sought for a P1-billion export support fund (ESF) to help the sector arrest the decline in export revenues, the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. said Friday.

Luis Sicat, a private sector trustee of the Export Development Council (EDC), was quoted in the statement as saying that the fund will be needed for export promotions, product design and development and improvement for technology, among others.

“We need [the ESF] because our export performance is really down. The $120 billion [export goal] for 2016 [has been revised downward to] $103 billion,” Sicat said.

Evelyn Tan, president of Home Accents Group of the Philippines Inc. (Hapi), said in the same statement that the ESF will also provide additional working capital to the local companies to ensure their sustainability.

The ESF will also prove to be critical especially now, as home accent exporters expect an 80 percent decline in revenues this year due to the truck ban policy being implemented by city government of Manila.

“[The] 80 percent [income cut will be] due to additional shipping expenses imposed by truckers and we are left without a choice as we cannot go back to our buyers and ask for merchandise price adjustment,” Tan said.

The said truck ban policy bans eight wheelers and vehicles with a gross weight of above 4,500 kilos from plying Manila’s streets between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. A tem     porary concession was offered by the city government allowing trucks to ply streets between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. within a six-month period.

This truck ban prompted trucking firms to hike their respective hauling charges by an average of 50 percent, a move that may redound to higher cost of goods for end-consumers. Trucking firms, however, are now being probed by the Department of Trade and Industry on this move, for possible collusion and anti-competitive practices.

According to Tan, exporters are left with no other options, as some truckers refuse to provide logistics services to new customers. The long waiting period for trucks brought about by the ban, she added, meant that companies needed to pay for overtime work for people who load and unload the containers at Manila ports.

Exporters, however, have to absorb these additional expenses.

“When we told our buyers that we were having difficulty with the trucks so we had to attach the additional operating or administrative costs, they said [rejected the idea],” Tan explained.