Back and port

This is an undeniable fact: There is no relief in sight yet for the business sector from the punishing congestion at the Port of Manila.

Let us backtrack a little. About a month ago, during the 40th Philippine Business Conference, our leader Benigno Simeon (aka BS) bared the administration’s much awaited solution to the debilitating congestion.

According to reports, he urged the business community—the logistics industry, in particular—to transport cargo even during weekends to help the Aquino (Part II) administration ease the jam at the piers.

Frankly, boss, the business sector did not really come out of the conference impressed with another “Band-Aid” cure from the government, pretty much like the “U-turn” solutions imposed by the government, supposedly to ease traffic in Metro Manila.

As whole industries incurred huge—and unrecoverable—losses due to the port clogging in the past several months, the thinking in the business sector shifted to the need for emergency surgical measures. You know, that drastic!

*Yet our leader BS even came back with a gallant effort to build up the sagging images of his boys in the Cabinet, revealing to his prestigious audience a secret: He told his boys to double their efforts in the “last two minutes” of his term. Yes, coach BS!

It was not that the highest official in the land would even use basketball terminology as metaphor in his speech before the country’s most important people in business.

The Cabinet members must henceforth double their efforts in the remainder of the term of our leader BS. Fine! It was just that, as one corporate executive whispered, double of zero would still be zero. Take a bow, DOTC!

For the truth remained that, despite the blatant lack of accomplishment of the Aquino (Part II) administration in such crucial areas as infrastructure and reforms in the red-tape infested bureaucracy, nobody was ever fired in this administration.

As a matter of fact, boss, regarding the incapacitating port congestion, the business sector already delivered cargo day and night, every day of the week, so that even in the wee hours of the morning, the streets were already crowded with delivery trucks.

That was many months, even years, ago—way before somebody in the Aquino (Part II) administration thought of the dazzling idea to encourage the business sector to deliver goods even during weekends. Bright!

In trying to apply the “Band-Aid” cure on a gushing head wound to business, the Aquino (Part II) administration perhaps missed even its own official statistics, such as the economic slowdown. The GDP posted only 5.3 percent growth in the last quarter, versus between 6 and 7 percent in the previous quarters.

And the business sector was quick to point out that the slide was mainly due to the port congestion.

To top it all—and this should be the most painful to the guys down here in my barangay—the congestion already caused thousands upon thousands of layoffs. Yes, boss, thousands of people already lost their jobs!

Even the BIR found justification in the port congestion for its lousy performance in raising tax revenues for the administration. When the BIR collection went down a few months ago, its officials immediately blamed … well, the port congestion.

In other words, the BIR could not meet its collection targets because of one lonely factor outside its control, which was the port congestion, and it had nothing to do with the corruption in the bureau.

Yet, in various position papers, the business sector already pointed out that corruption in the BIR was as vicious as ever under the Aquino (Part II) administration.

The ultimate insult nevertheless came from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) itself—the agency that was supposed to take care of business at all the ports in the country—when it announced that the Manila port was hitting almost 100 percent of capacity.

Whaaaat? The flow of cargo did not even hit full capacity in the port while all this jam already killed businesses, obliterated jobs, and provided the BIR with an alibi? Boss, what should we expect on the day the port would hit full capacity, the “Second Coming?”

Like it or not, according to the logistics industry—all those delivery guys in container vans or ordinary trucks—the port congestion already resulted in some P100 million in losses everyday for the industry. The delays in the delivery of goods added to costs like detention, demurrage, storage fee, parking fee and, last but not least, kotong. To top it all, the volume of business has gone down drastically.

And for all that, thanks to the timid response of the government, and thanks to the heroic efforts of this administration in avoiding emergency surgical measures such as forcing private port operators to do something unpalatable just to get rid of the whole damn problem.

* * *

We know that Globe Telecom of the Ayala group has been in the thick of a legal fight with the PLDT group, due to Globe’s agreement with another telecommunications company, Bayantel of the Lopez group, over the “joint” use of the latter’s frequencies.

Here is the latest: Globe again lashed out at the PLDT group before the Court of Appeals (CA), alleging that the PLDT group would still maintain its spectrum stranglehold over the local telecommunications industry, even with the sharing agreement between Bayantel and Globe.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the police of the telecom sector, already approved the agreement between Globe and Bayantel. So PLDT filed cases against both the NTC and Globe.

Recently, Globe told the CA that, contrary to what the PLDT group claimed, its agreement with Bayantel would not unduly disturb the balance of competitive power among existing telcos. The PLDT group would still be the dominant carrier with the most number of radio frequencies.

Indeed, even with the Bayantel-Globe agreement on the joint use of Bayantel frequencies, the PLDT group would still have some 60 percent more of the so-called 2G/LTE-FDD spectrum, 25 percent more of 3G/LTE-FDD spectrum, and 10 percent more of LTE-TDD spectrum than what Globe and Bayan would have—combined.

Globe explained that the term “joint use” of spectrum was sufficiently clear, citing the NTC’s correct reading of Bayan’s intent to continue operating independently. Thus, Bayantel would retain its assigned frequency.

Actually, according to Globe, when the NTC a couple of years ago ordered the PLDT group to divest itself of a certain frequency, as a result of the PLDT-Digitel merger, it showed that the PLDT group had more than enough spectrum.

In other words, while the PLDT group complained about the additional frequency that Globe could use because of its agreement with Bayantel, the PLDT group forgot to say that it would still enjoy the biggest spectrum no matter what. Ayayay!