Operations of the Bureau of Customs (BOC)-Manila International Container Port (MICP) have started to normalize, reported assistant commissioner and spokesperson Atty. Vincent Philip Maronilla in an online update on April 3.
Together with the Port of Manila, BOC-MICP is trying to complete processing of all backlog entries that resulted from the temporary closure of the MICP building from March 24, he said.
Entries processed from April 1 to 2 totaled 4,734, up from the 1,448 entries processed from March 26 to 31.
In terms of containers, BOC processed 9,726 units from April 1 to 2 from 3,487 containers from March 26 to 31.
Maronilla said the agency is bent on finishing the processing of all backlogs on April 3. If this is not accomplished, employees will work during the weekend to complete the task.
He acknowledged disruptions due to the temporary closure of the BOC-MICP office, which handles the country’s biggest number of shipments.
BOC on March 24 ordered the temporary closure of its MICP building after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). BOC-Port of Manila, which has been helping BOC MICP process entries, also had to stop operations for a day last March 28 due to a scheduled fumigation at South Harbor.
READ: BOC-MICP closed, transactions online after staff tests positive for COVID-19
Maronilla said a special assessment team has been formed to handle all shipments at MICP and a team has already been sent last April 1 to retrieve documents submitted by stakeholders so these can also be processed. He noted they are prioritizing all shipments affected by the closure of the MICP building.
Port of Manila district collector Arsenia Ilagan, during the same live update on April 3, said that for the last two days, all appraisers of Port of Manila’s Formal Entry Division have had to work and a team focused solely on triggering the release of shipments of MICP has been created, and these have led to the increase in entries processed for MICP since the start of April.
Maronilla, meanwhile, is appealing to BOC’s bank partners to open their branches to help fast-track processing of shipments. He said BOC is also looking at other payment solutions.
In a separate statement, BOC said 472 overstaying and abandoned containers at MICP have already been transferred to the depot of Pacific Roadlink Logistics, Inc., 925 containers to the domestic terminal Manila North Harbor, and 78 containers to the Laguna Gateway Inland Container Terminal.
READ: BOC transferring 4,000 overstaying boxes from congested MICT
BOC said that while the transfer of containers provides some relief to congested MICP, “this is only a short-term solution.”
“For the long-term, the BOC is reminding importers to claim their containers to free up the yard. Since March 25, the MICP has recorded a total of 10,852 containers claimed from the yard, 1,007 of which are reefers and 9,845 dry containers,” BOC said. – Roumina Pablo
