Transcript of Sen. Bam Aquino During the Budget Hearing of DTI

On Port Congestion

SECRETARY GREGORY DOMINGO: The problem came in three phases and each phase had a different sort of problem although they were quite interrelated. The first phase was when the Manila truck ban was imposed in February and for the next month or so, the problem was the movement of trucks in and out of the port.

When we talk about the port congestion, tatlo iyon. One is the truck capacity in and out. The second is the container yard capacity and third is the ship site capacity, which is the loading and unloading of vessels.

Sa first phase po, ang problema doon ay truck capacity. Nalimit ang ikot ng truck so nangyari po, ang ship site di tumigil dahil padating pa rin ang barko so na-affect ang container yard capacity.

Umakyat po nang umakyat iyong number of containers sa port so iyon po ang second phase naman.

Una, iyong truck capacity ng impact for one month. After one month, napuno po ang ating container yard so it became a container yard limitation. Plus, the truck capacity limitation tapos nung naresolba na iyong mga truck ban tsaka nakagawa ng ruta, we moved to the third phase, which was about a month ago wherein the truck capacity limitation were basically improved drastically.

Ngayon, ang lakas na po ang daloy ng truck. Before Thursday, Friday last week, we were doing 9,000 trips per day from a low of 3,000 a day during the truck ban.

Pero ang nangyari po ngayon is, ang problema ngayon nag-iba na. Iyong ship site ang naging problema because there are more containers being brought in than being taking out.

Ngayon, ang container yard capacity umakyat po ang utilization. ICTSI (International Container Terminal Services, Inc.) is about 100 percent while ATI (Asian Terminals, Inc.) is about 92 percent.

Pag masyadong mataas ang container yard utilization, lalagyan na naman nila ng containers ang circulation roads which limit the movements of the crane, movements of the truck. Baka ma-affect na naman ang throughout ng trucks so doon po tayo.

Ang solution po dati ay utilize Batangas port. Now Batangas port is now fully utilized. Gamit na gamit po ang Batangas port ngayon.

Pangalawa po, we are now using the port five out of seven days a week. That's a 20 percent limitation on capacity. We are now encouraging the companies at saka mga brokers and everybody to utilize the extra two days.

Kung magawa po ang extra two days na iyon, then ma-stabilize ang situation po. Then pagdating ng first quarter during the lean season, then we can clear a lot of the congestion sa port.

Pero now na 'ber' months na tayo where iyong dating ng containers ay napakalaki, mahirap nating ma-reduce ang port congestion. All we can hope for is really optimize it para hindi ma-hamper masyado ang movement ng goods.

Sen. Bam Aquino: During our hearing, napag-usapan iyong pagbabawas ng mga containers and I think the goal was x thousand a day na mailalagay sa PEZA zones.

Has that helped out? Nabawasan ba ang containers natin because of those new areas?

A: From our last hearing po, lahat po ng nasabi roon, karamihan nagawa na po. Like the movement of containers to the port, iyong movement of seized containers ng Customs so that's in fact some is ongoing still. Iyong pagbukas po ng container yards outside the port, gaya sa PEZA, nangyari na po. So marami na pong nadagdag na container yard capacity.

Q: But has that lessen the number of containers? If I'm not mistaken, 80,000 containers ang capacity. And you wanted it to bring down to 60 to 65 thousand right?

A: Nasa mga 78,000 yata po tayo ngayon.

Q: So by three thousand natin naibaba because ber months na, mas dumarating ang mga ships basically?

A: Oho, tsaka hindi nailalabas ang containers. Let's say mag-unload tayo ng 4,000 containers, pero mag-lo-load tayo 3,000 lang kaya nadadagdagan per day. Kailangan mag-usap talaga ay with the shipping lines but they have to cooperate.

Q: How about domestic shipping lines natin?

A: Hindi po affected.

Q: So the port congestion issue, you're saying, will continue until 2015?

A: Opo.

Q: We're hoping na kapag nag-lean months in the first quarter of 2015, doon tayo mas magbabawas ng containers

A: Opo, during the first three months of 2015.

Q: The traffic in NLEX that happened for a few days, that's a direct consequence of us opening up the lanes sa port?

A: Ang understanding ko po hindi nasunod ang ruta. Na-divert to smaller roads kaya nagkabuhol-buhol po ang traffic.

I guess we didn't have enough enforcers so it was being ran by the local city government iyong enforcement. So now ang dinecide po ng Palasyo is that the routes going from NLEX to the port will be manned by MMDA and the national police.

Q: That special route will be there until 2015?

A: Until ma-resolve po ito. Hopefully, first quarter of next year.

Q: There's no other way to speed up the process of taking out the containers?

A: Kung magawa natin seven days a week. Napaka-critical po iyon. If we're able to use the additional 20 percent, that will solve almost all of our problems.

Q: From the time we had a hearing, di pa rin operational ang port ng weekends and Monday morning?

A: We've been pushing. The chambers are part of the task force. Hindi rin nila matulak.

Q: Kanina, secretary you mentioned the 9,000 trips?

A: In and out po.

Q: Roughly we can only do maximum 4,500 na release per day? We cannot increase that 4,500 to a higher amount?

A: Puwede po. May nakita na po akong report na umakyat ng 9,300. I think hanggang 10,000.

Q: So we need to basically, kung one, we need to work during the weekends and that's dependent on the private sector and our processes need to double out para pabawas tayo at hindi padagdag.