CARGO and passenger movement in major
ports stalled for up to 24 hours last Thursday after
super typhoon 'Milenyo' cut electric supply in the entire
Luzon grid.
Cargoes passing through North Harbor were delayed after
the North Harbor Port Authority suspended port operations
due to bad weather and the blackout, North Harbor port
manager Alex Cruz told PortCalls.
"By dawn Friday, all operations have returned to
normal even if electric supply has not been restored,"
he added.
International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI)
and Asian Terminals, Inc. (ATI) slowed down operations
on Thursday as a precautionary measure. But by Thursday
evening, both cargo-handling operators restored full
commercial operations.
At the Eva Macapagal Super Terminal, which handles the
bulk of the entire domestic cargo and passenger volume,
local passenger and cargo movement was delayed eight
to 12 hours also due to the typhoon.
In a statement, Aboitiz Transport System Corp., whose
SuperFerry vessels calls at the terminal, said SuperFerry
9 had to be put on hold and the embarkation and disembarkation
of cargoes stopped for almost eight hours last Thursday
due to delayed arrival of vessels and the stoppage of
cargo-handling operations.
"We were only able to load and unload cargoes at
the Macapagal Terminal on Friday. As early as Friday,
ATSC immediately restored full commercial operations
at the terminal and vessel voyages," it added.
On Thursday, typhoon 'Milenyo' directly hit Metro Manila
putting the entire area as well as nearby provinces
such as Cavite, Laguna and Bulacan on signal number
3. Milenyo was the most devastating typhoon that has
hit the metro in the last 10 years.
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) is set to appeal the decision
of the lower court which voided Customs Administrative
Order (CAO) 3-2006.
CAO 3-2006 operationalizes Republic Act 9280 or the
Customs Brokers Act of 2004 at the BOC.
In a notice filed with Branch 8 of the Manila Regional
Trial Court (RTC) that handed down the decision on civil
case 06-115029, assistant solicitor general Amparo Cabotaje-Tang
said the BOC will try to seek the help of the CA to
reverse the decision.
According to the notice, the Office of the Solicitor
General-the agency that handles all lawsuits filed against
the government-claimed that the decision of the lower
court is also contrary to law, evidence and prevailing
jurisprudence.
The decision of the BOC to appeal its case before the
Court of Appeals signals a long battle to determine
the legality of CAO 3-2006, which is the basis of an
amendment approved on September 2, that allows customs
brokerage houses and freight forwarding firms to transact
with the BOC.
Earlier this month, the Manila RTC voided 3-2006 and
directed the BOC to desist from implementing the CAO
and permanently maintain the status quo order it issued
earlier in the practice of the customs brokerage profession.
Judge Felixberto Olalia, Jr. in a 22-page decision declared
CAO 3-2006 invalid and in contravention with RA 9280.
"This court hereby declares CAO 3-2006 invalid
for being issued without any authority and in contravention
with RA 9280. The status quo order previously issued
by this Court is made permanent. The Commissioner of
Customs is hereby ordered to desist from enforcing CAO
3-2006," the court stressed in its decision.
The court finds merit in the contention of the petitioner
that CAO 3-2006 was issued in violation of the Administrative
Code. According to the court, an 'order' is supposed
to be directed to particular office, officials, or employees,
concerning specific matters including assignment, detail,
and transfer of personnel, for observance or compliance
by all concerned.
"Consequently, CAO 3-2006 which governs the regulations
of the practice of customs brokers does not pertain
to offices or employees in the government. As such,
what should have been issued by the Commissioner of
Customs is a 'circular' which prescribes policies, rules
and regulations and procedures promulgated pursuant
to lawÉ Nonetheless, even if CAO 3-2006 was issued
as a 'circular' it would not validate the issuance since
it was issued not only to supplement the law but in
effect, it directly contravenes the law," the decision
revealed.
The same court also ruled there is no need for customs
brokers to secure accreditation from the BOC as the
Professional Regulation Commission's Certificate and
the Professional Regulatory Commission License are enough.
"These documents are given for them to exercise
or practice their profession and give them authority
to sign documents pertaining to the exercise of their
profession. Hence there is no need to secure a license
from a particular port of the BOC, a consequence of
which limits the scope of the practice of the profession,
which is national in the first place," Judge Olalia
explained in his decision.
"CAO 3-2006 provides for the grant, renewal, denial,
revocation, and suspension of the accreditation. Said
procedures would in effect curtail the rights conferred
upon by RA 9280 to licenses customs brokers. Hence,
the requirement of accreditation of accreditation clearly
amounts to a licensing requirement prohibited by law,"
he added.
Airlift Asia Customs Brokerage in May filed a petition
before the court questioning the CAO claiming it empowers
the Customs commissioner to issue another license for
the practice of customs brokerage inside the customs
house - a situation which it said has been expressly
repealed by RA 9280. The law, it argued, lodged all
powers for the licensing of customs brokerage with the
Professional Regulatory Board of Customs Brokers.
The petitioner also claimed that the basis for the issuance
of CAO 3-2006 - Sections 602 to 608 of the Tariff and
Customs Code of the Philippines (TCCP) - refers to general
duties and powers of commissioner such as assessment
of revenues, prevention of smuggling, issuance of clearance
of vessels coming in and out of the pier under the jurisdiction
of the BOC, among others. Nothing in the TCCP sections
expressly empowers the BOC to regulate the practice
of customs brokerage, it said. The petitioner claimed
the issue could affect the company's 20 or so employees
and 156 clients. If the CAO is fully enforced, the petitioner
said it would close down.
NEGROS Navigation (Nenaco) has been ordered to pay its
debts to GE SeaCo as these are not covered by the rehabilitation
program secured by the firm two years ago.
Judge Aida E. Layug of Branch 8 of the Manila Trial
Court directed Nenaco to pay its current debts-or those
payable accounts that has remained unpaid for 30 days.
No amount was specified by the court order, but according
to court data, Nenaco has unpaid accounts of $18,835.60
for July alone for the rental of GE SeaCo's container
vans. The said amount was due last August 31.
Court-appointed rehabilitation receiver Monico Jacob
said he would not file an opposition to the decision,
and instead would recommend payment. To date, Jacob
still has to file his recommendation.
"Upon the receipt of the recommendation from the
corporate receiver the court will make proper order,"
Judge Layug said in her order.
For the first quarter of the year, Nenaco, a unit of
Metro Pacific Corp. reported a loss of P29.2 million,
narrower than its reported P77 million losses last year.
The company still has to file its second-quarter financial
report to the courts.
It attributed the bottom line improvement to less operating
costs and expenses as the company only operated five
to six vessels during the period compared to nine in
2005.
The company is under a 10-year rehabilitation plan for
its total outstanding obligations estimated at P2.4
billion, including P1 billion in bank loans.
Its creditors include the Export-Import Bank, Bank of
Commerce, Equitable-PCI Bank, Prudential Bank and Trust
Co., and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co.
Another P1 billion is owed to trade suppliers and lessors
of equipment and property, and P400 million in unpaid
taxes to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), one of the government's
top revenue earners, is implementing a rationalization
plan, hoping to cut a significant chunk of its workforce
all over the country.
The agency's change management team issued a memorandum
to all its employees last month saying 570 positions,
or about 30% of its employees, are going to be "affected"
by the rationalization measure. PPA has about 2,000
employees that operate 114 terminals all over the country.
The move is fanning speculation that those occupying
low-ranking plantilla positions would be promoted and
clerical jobs contracted out. Such a practice is prevalent
in the private sector.
PPA has already stopped hiring new employees-also a
Malaca–ang directive-but is promoting to fill
the void in the skeletal workforce.
"Incumbents holding a permanent appointment are
given two months within which to decide whether to remain
in PPA or avail of retirement/separation benefits, if
qualified, plus the allowable incentive," the notice
said.
"Incumbents holding a temporary appointment attested
by the Civil Service Commission may opt to remain in
PPA but are guaranteed tenure up to the expiration of
their appointment only," it added.
The PPA measure is based on Malaca–ang Executive
Order No. 366 released in October last year, that all
department secretaries will conduct a strategic review
of operations and organizations of the department component
units, including agencies and government-owned and -controlled
corporations attached to or under the department's administrative
supervision. Target date of submission of the reengineering
plan of the agencies should have been November last
year but was postponed several times due to changes
in President Arroyo's Cabinet.
For the first seven months of the year, PPA's net income
went down more than 7% to P1.81 billion from the previous
year's P1.95 billion, mainly as a result of lower cargo
volumes in the country.
THE Hanjin shipbuilding facility is deemed to put the
Philippines in the world map of large-scale shipbuilding,
according to Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chairman
Feliciano Salonga.
"The government is making sure that infrastructure
projects such as ours are on the right track because
such are envisioned to stabilize the country's economy
by directly and indirectly attracting more investors,
and creating job opportunities, thereby bolstering the
President's 10-point economic agenda," Salonga
said.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last week visited
the construction of the biggest foreign direct investment
in the country this year.
Salonga added that the project would also complement
the ongoing construction of the new container port under
the Subic Port Development Project, as well as the Subic-Clark
Toll Road Project that are both government flagship
projects and being funded by the Japan Bank for International
Cooperation.
Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co. (HHIC),
dubbed as one of the world's largest shipbuilders, formally
signed in March this year the $1-billion lease agreement
with the SBMA for the construction of a 2.3-million
square meter shipyard at the Redondo Peninsula.
With the establishment of the new shipyard, the company
aims to expand into offshore plant construction, which
has been restricted due to the relatively small size
of its Youngdo shipyard in the port city of Busan Metropolitan
City, the largest harbor city in South Korea.
Jeong Sup Shim, president of HHIC-Phils. said the leased
area is ideal for the building of liquefied natural
gas carriers, very large crude-oil carriers and offshore
drilling rigs.
In February this year, Hanjin Shipping and Industrial
Co. Ltd. of South Korea granted the residents of Barangay
Cawag, Subic compensation checks as part of its clearing
operation to prepare the site for the construction of
the shipyard.
A total of 196 families received checks as compensation
for their relocation and payment for the residents'
houses, lot and farm improvements made in SBMA land.
Residents were also given a better and more permanent
site for relocation near the ship facility.
In March, HHIC opened some 6,500 job opportunities for
the local residents, the biggest job fair ever held
by a single company, where positions such as engineers,
welders, pipefitters, foremen, crane operators, and
agriculturists were offered.
The Hanjin operations include the production of liquefied
natural gas carriers and other large ships as well as
plants such as steel bridges, and are expected to generate
up to 30,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities
to add to the current Freeport workforce of 61,584.
Some 7,000 welders and painters will also be needed
during actual operation.
According to SBMA executives, the country's economy
will also benefit from Hanjin's operations as it will
infuse at least $1.6 billion to the economy in terms
of export values and workers' income.
Moreover, HHIC also opened a P40-million training center
for shipyard workers, the most modern training center
in the country, which is located at the heart of the
Municipality of Subic, Zambales.
HHIC-Phils. Managing Dir. Myung Goo Kwon disclosed that
one factor for the success of the shipbuilding industry
in the international market is the pool of qualified
and competent manpower which is remotely available in
the country at the moment.
The training center, which boasts of modern training
facilities and qualified Korean instructors, will be
the "cornerstone in developing and honing the skills
of the Filipino trainees." It will transform regular,
ordinary workers into qualified, skilled workers eligible
to work in the shipyard. The training facility has three
classrooms, 70 welding booths, one pipefitting room,
four painting rooms and a large working area that could
accommodate a maximum of 200 trainees and instructors.
About 100 Filipino welders were sent to Korean for an
intensive training with
HHIC-Philippines' mother company. They will be taught
the necessary skills to qualify them for shipbuilding
jobs.
Last month, officials of the SBMA, the province of Zambales,
and the municipality of Subic led the groundbreaking
ceremony for the P600-million Balaybay-Subic-Cawag access
road that will connect the Hanjin Shipbuilding site
with Zambales and the Freeport.
