MEMBERS of the Cold Chain Association of
the Philippines (CCAP) are shying away from investing heavily
in Luzon due to the spiraling cost of power, said CCAP president
Anthony Dizon.
In an interview at the sidelines of the Supply Chain Management
Association of the Philippines last week, Dizon said current
Luzon power rates have forced majority of CCAP members to
seek business expansion in Visayas and Mindanao where power
rates are much cheaper.
He said the Luzon rate of P8 to P10 per kilowatt hour is way
beyond the CCAP forecast of P4 to P5 per kilowatt hour in
2000.
Dizon said association members are in the meantime not qualified
to tap the Time-of-Use energy-pricing program of the Manila
Electric Company. Under the program, industrial and non-industrial
users during off-peak hours, usually during Sundays and at
night, pay up to 50% less than during peak hours.
The entire cold chain system, however, does not use up the
needed wattage to qualify for the program, Dizon said.
ÒUnless power rates in Luzon drastically go down, cold
chain investments will be concentrated in the Visayas and
Mindanao where power is much cheaper and where there is a
huge market potential particularly in General Santos, Cagayan
de Oro and Davao,Ó Dizon stressed.
For the last 12 months, power rates have increased by approximately
30%. Cold chain players have not jacked up their rates by
as much for fear of losing clients.
Three cold chain facilities worth P600 million were recently
built in Mindanao — one in General Santos for pork processing
related to the ‘pork-in-a-box’ program of the
Department of Agriculture, one in Cagayan de Oro catering
to the combined marine and chicken market of the region, and
another in Davao for fruit and vegetable exports.
Ugly legal tussle looms with oil pollution compensation act
LOCAL tanker operators and oil players are
to seek legal remedies against RA 9483 or the Oil Pollution
Compensation Act, a move seen as a last ditch attempt to stop
its execution.
The bill institutes the local mechanism for the prevention,
abatement, mitigation and control of oil pollution within
the territorial boundaries of the country. Its implementing
rules are being crafted by the Maritime Industry Authority
(Marina) for publication this week.
RA 9483 seeks to implement the 1992 Civil Liability Convention
(CLC) and the 1992 International Oil Pollution Fund (IOPF)
Convention. It requires tanker operators to contribute P0.10
of freight to the oil pollution fund for every liter for every
delivery of oil. It also obligates oil firms to contribute
to the IOPF for every 150,000 tons of oil delivered to them.
The amount is on top of a tanker company’s contribution
to the Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Fund and the IOPF.
At a recent forum on the law attended by officials of the
International Maritime Organization (IMO), International Oil
Pollution Fund of London, Department of Transportation and
Communications, Marina, and Department of Energy, the Philippine
Petroleum Sea Transport Association (Philpesta), Association
of Tanker Owners of the Philippines (Atophil), and major oil
industry players said they have no recourse but to seek legal
remedies.
ÒWe cannot shoulder the burden once the law is implemented.
We will beÉ at the losing end. (We won’t be able
to ) recoverÉ especially if the oil majors will not
agree (that we) pass the levy on to them,Ó Atophil
president Capt. Oscar Orbeta explained.
ÒWe have no choice but to seek legal remedies. If the
court decides against our cause, then maybe we will resort
to more desperate measures like stopping our operations,Ó
Orbeta said.
Ò(The law) will eat up to 60% of our operational expenses,Ó
he added.
ÒIt only aggravates the situation for tankers. First,
they require double-hull ships, now this one. We are already
having a hard time sourcing funds to replace our single-hull
ships with double-hull, now this additional burdenÉ
it’s too much,Ó Orbeta lamented.
The Philippine Institute of Petroleum said the amount subject
to collection would be staggering. Besides that, the law duplicates
functions already encased in two separate Senate resolutions
implementing the Civil Liability Code and the Oil Pollution
Management Fund.
It added that the law has many defects, including allowing
access of the oil pollution fund during cases of spillage
by international vessels. These vessels, however, are not
subject to any penalties.
IMO regional coordinator Atty. Brenda Pimentel sees nothing
wrong with the law. She said each state has every right to
legislate IMO conventions depending on how they want to be
implemented.
ÒIn this case, the Philippines saw the levy would be
best (way) to address oil pollution and the IMO will not interfere
on how they want to enforce it,Ó Pimentel said.
Philpesta and the oil majors reiterated their insurance coverage
from the P&I Club of London and the IOPF are enough to
cover shipowner liability during spillages.
INTERCOMMERCE Network Service (INS), so far
the only accredited value-added service provider (VASP) of
the Bureau of Customs (BOC), is eyeing a tie-up with five
local banks, including Land Bank of the Philippines and Development
Bank of the Philippines, for an electronic payment system
for imports.
INS president Francis Lopez said the system will complement
the company’s ability to offer online lodgment of import
entries, especially now that its service has been expanded
to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and the Port
of Cebu.
Customs deputy commissioner Alexander Arevalo said the BOC
will ask the Bankers Association of the Philippines to join
Customs in the e-payment system.
INS will start its NAIA operations today (Sept 17) and Cebu
by October 1.
The online lodgment of entries in Cebu will be the first outside
the Port of Manila and Manila International Container Port.
PPA working out differences with reclamation agency
THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is in
talks with the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) to ensure
there are no more delays in port development projects.
The PRA earlier admonished the port agency after it reclaimed
land without PRA approval. Based on a January ruling by the
PRA, reclamation projects require a prior permit from the
PRA or the President of the Philippines.
PPA general manager for special projects Raul Santos said
although land reclamation is not part of the PPA mandate,
this has become incidental to its projects.
ÒThere are several measures that we can (institute
to) create land for port use, the (most) common of which is
to develop from an existing land and to reclaim land seawards,Ó
Santos explained.
Ongoing PPA projects that require reclamation include the
ports of Esperanza in Masbate, Burias, Naval, and Maripipi,
all included in the central part of the Strong Republic Nautical
Highway, the PPA official said.
In May, construction work and privatization of the P395.7-million
Dumaguete Port extension were delayed when the PRA accused
PPA of not securing a prior permit. The project involves reclamation
for the ship’s back-up area.
Apart from PPA, also affected were some state-owned firms,
which earlier did not need a reclamation permit.
PPA is rushing the completion of various port projects —
some requiring reclamation and all needed to service roll
on-roll off vessels — as part of the government’s
effort to reduce logistics cost.
Most port projects require completion from now until the middle
of next year.
These include the ports of Aroroy, Cagayan de Oro, Calapan,
Cawayan, Cawit, Currimao, Danao, Dapitan, Davao VII, Dingalan,
Dumaguete, El Nido, Fort of San Pedro, General Santos, Hilongos,
Iloilo, Lamao, Legazpi, Liloan, Lucena I and II, Maripipi,
Masbate, Mati, Pantao, Plaridel, Sindangan, Surigao, Tacloban,
Talibon, and Zamboanga.
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Subic
Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) will conduct a joint audit
of vehicle import permits to monitor the entry and exit of
motor vehicles to and from the freeport.
The move is part of efforts to monitor all goods passing through
the freeport under a memorandum of agreement signed by Customs
Commissioner Napoleon Morales and SBMA administrator Armand
Arreza.
Deputy commissioner Celso Templo, who is also the BOC Intelligence
and Enforcement Group chief, said import permits and blue
plates issued to vehicles, especially high-end cars, have
to be audited to check whether taxes have been paid on them.
He said imported vehicles have been allowed by SBMA to leave
the freeport for up to a week for different reasons, including
repairs.
ÒWhen they show the blue plates and gate pass, they
are allowed to leave, but the police don’t know if they
have settled the import duties or if they will come back or
not,Ó Templo explained.
He said the BOC will ask the Land Transportation Office to
join the coordinated audit program.
Templo will personally conduct an inventory of five smuggled
luxury cars in Subic.
The vehicle importer, said Templo, had earlier asked the SBMA
to allow it to re-export the vehicles, but was denied.
In order to curb smuggling of motor vehicles in Subic, Customs
officials said the SBMA should be more discriminating in issuing
import permits.
Only the SBMA may issue import permits for shipments within
its zone and these are given only to SBMA-registered locators.
Beyond the freeport, the shipments are subject to the Tariff
and Customs Code.
DAVAO Integrated Port and Stevedoring Services
Corp. (DIPSSCOR) recently serviced American President Lines’
(APL) 1,284-TEU capacity Medatlantic when the vessel made
its maiden call at the International Port of Davao’s
Sasa Wharf.
Medatlantic completes APL’s three-vessel capacity upgrade
for its fast-growing Kaohsiung-Manila-Cagayan-Davao-Singapore
trade route. The 2007-built vessel replaces the 975-TEU QC
Vision.
APL’s multi vessel upgrade started late last year with
the introduction of the 1,078-TEU New Confidence, which replaced
the APL Tulip. This was followed by the launch of the 1,341-TEU
Rickmers China last May, which replaced the 1,118-TEU Syms
Huashan. Rickmers China is the biggest container vessel yet
to dock at the Sasa Wharf.
APL, the leading international liner in terms of volume throughput
at Sasa Wharf, makes a biweekly call at the terminal. Its
main export cargo are fresh fruits, desiccated coconut, activated
carbons or charcoal, and wood products. It main import cargoes
are craft liner boards, tiles and other house construction
materials and various auto parts.
The company is the world’s sixth-largest container transportation
and shipping company, providing services to more than 140
countries. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore-based
Neptune Orient Lines, a global transportation and logistics
company engaged in shipping and related businesses.
DIPSSCOR is a subsidiary of International Container Terminal
Services, Inc.
Captain Shypash Sergiy (fifth from left), Medatlantic Vessel Master, and Myra Aquino-Tan (third from left), APL Davao Branch Manager, receive their commemorative certificates from Sonny Sebellino (sixth from left) and Julien Domingo (second from left), DIPSSCOR Operations and Finance Managers, respectively. Witnessing the ceremony are (from left) Atty. Romulo Andres, PPA-Davao Port Services Manager; Robert Rumbaoa, APL Davao Sales Executive; Joseph Soguilon, APL-Davao Operations Superintendent; and Rico Cruz, ICTSI Business Development Manager.
