PRICES of some imported meat products may go up this holiday season as the port congestion and the ongoing truck holiday, which disrupted the movement of goods, will increase the cost incurred by importers and traders.
An analyst from the University of the Philippines, however, said the truck holiday was just an “alibi” used by truckers so they can raise charges in view of the government’s efforts to phase out old vehicles.
Meat Importers and Traders Association (Mita) President Jesus C. Cham said the majority of their members are absorbing the additional costs caused by the port congestion so as not to disrupt sales.
Cham noted, however, that some importers and traders would pass on the increase in cost to wholesales so they won’t incur losses.
The Mita chief also said the port congestion this year is “worse” as it started as early as August. He said it now takes about three weeks to completely transport imported goods to their warehouses from the ports, compared to just three days during the same period last year.
“We now experience more shortage of stocks,” he told the BusinessMirror.
Philippine Amalgated Supermarket Association President Steven Cua also expressed apprehension that consumer products may become more expensive due to the truck holiday, particularly if demand would exceed the current inventories.
“This would mean a lack of supply on supermarket shelves, [with truckers] hoping that retailers will help pressure the government to hold back the requirement to retire 15-year-old and older trucks on the road,” Cua told the BusinessMirror via SMS.
Truckers’ alibi?
In an e-mail sent to BusinessMirror on Monday, UP Professor Emeritus Epictetus Patalinghug, who also led the research team that computed the port congestion losses in 2014, said the phaseout plan of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is not viable.
Patalinghug said truckers and customs brokers pushed for the holiday because replacing old trucks with Euro 4-compliant buses cost P3 to P5 million, making it difficult for truckers to comply with the regulation.
“Because trucks are more polluting than jeepneys, the crazy LTFRB is imposing the same phase out policy on trucks, but it costs P3 million to P5 million to buy a new Euro 4-compliant bus which would not meet LTFRB’s goal before the 2022 elections,” he said.
“Since the replacement won’t happen in the short run, it should not affect prices during Christmas time. However, the protest and the claim of port congestion will simply be used by truckers and shippers as an alibi to raise their charges,” he added.
Unfazed
Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno told the BusinessMirror that he is not worried about the port congestion as the harbor link project will be open for public use by December 19.
“What used to take 1.5 hours going to Edsa will now take 10 minutes on the way to the North Luzon Expressway. It took several administrations for this to happen. But now, it will be opened in December 19,” Diokno said.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) said it is already implementing a number of measures to ease port congestion.
Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero also said on the sidelines of the Memorandum of Agreement signing with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard at the Port of Manila on Monday, that the BOC is in continuous discussions with other agencies.
“We at the BOC, we are coordinating with the Department of Transportation [DOTr] and the other agencies so that we can fix these problems of port congestion,” Guerrero said.
Some of the measures that have been rolled out are the transfer of some empty containers at the inland containers terminals, requiring shipping companies to open up additional container yards, and the inventory of existing containers for immediate evacuation.
Truck holiday impact
Philippine Ports Authority general manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago said the truck holiday has no effect on the operations of the ports as the membership of the group that participated in it is just 8 percent of the truckers that operate in Manila ports.
“Right now, our yard utilization is relatively high due to the Christmas rush. But we are approximately at 73 percent to 75 percent utilization rate, which is still at the optimal level,” Santiago said.
The DOTr said the “truck holiday” protests Department Order (DO) 2017-09, which reinforced the earlier DO 2002-030 on the mandatory 15-year age limit for buses- and trucks-for hire covered by a certificate of public convenience.
LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III has stressed that it was already agreed upon that truckers, even with units older than 15 years, may continue with their current franchises during the transition period.
The transition period for the year model-based phaseout of trucks covered by a certificate of public convenience is from June 30, 2017 to June 30, 2020, in accordance with LTFRB Memorandum Circular 2018-007. With reports by Rea Cu and Lorenz Marasigan
Image credits: Nonie Reyes