PPA counters claims, to still push for TOP-CRMS

Philippine Ports Authority | INQUIRER.net

The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) on Monday said the costs associated with using port facilities and services will be cut by nearly half with the planned automated system for tracking shipping containers, contrary to what a number of business groups opposing the move claimed last week.

PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago told the Inquirer that container yard costs will be reduced from the P6,400 per container to P3,520 per container under the Trusted Operator Program-Container Registry and Monitoring System (TOP-CRMS).

He added that only P980 in container monitoring and insurance fee will be collected per container under the TOP-CRMS in place of the refundable P20,000 container deposit insurance in the current system.

“Even if we do not include the discussion on container deposit, the savings on the empty container handling side is significant under the [TOP-CRMS],” Santiago said.

Opposition

The PPA and at least 17 business and stakeholder groups opposing the implementation of the planned container monitoring system remain at odds over whether container deposits should be considered expenses.

“Because of the inordinate delay in the return [of the] deposit, isn’t there a cost of money for those paying the deposit? At 10 percent per annum interest, a P30k deposit held for six months to one year [is easily] P1,500 to P3,000,” the PPA official said.

The groups opposing the move said last week that container deposits were not really considered “costs” since they are refundable when they return the container, adding that those are even sometimes waived for regular users.

On Wednesday last week, groups protesting the implementation of the TOP-CRMS held a briefing to express their disapproval, warning that it would jack up importation costs by as much as 50 percent.

Patrick Ronas, president of the Association of International Shipping Lines Inc., who delivered the joint statement during the press conference, said the PPA’s Administrative Order No. 04-2021 failed to consider that Filipino consumers would be the ones ultimately affected by the supposed negative impact of the planned system.

Ronas had said the planned cargo monitoring system would lead to a “staggering” additional annual import cost estimate of at least P35 billion. INQ