The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) listed several proposed projects and reforms the Department of Transportation (DOTr) can undertake in order to sharpen the competitiveness of the manufacturing and export industries.
In a meeting with DOTr, PCCI said businesses, especially manufacturers and exporters, are losing their competitiveness because of high logistics costs.
The group, in a statement, said logistics costs in the country account for 24% to 53% of wholesale prices, higher by 4% to 33% than those in other countries in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Asia.
Key entries in PCCI’s wish list include bringing down trucking and shipping rates, decongesting the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), transferring cargo volume to Batangas and Subic ports, accelerating vital infrastructure projects, upgrading and expanding the country’s roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) system, and removing pass-through fees.
Amending the charters of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) should also be studied as a way to separate the two agencies’ dual regulatory and developmental functions.
PCCI president George Barcelon said the whole system of fees, roads, truck bans, and port congestion and traffic that is now in place contributes to the high cost of transportation and logistics.
Barcelon noted how trucking rates have not gone back to pre-port congestion levels even though port congestion has cleared up and fuel prices remain low.
He added that various fees collected at ports, such as terminal handling fee, port congestion surcharges, container imbalance fee, and emergency import surcharge, as well as pass-through fees imposed on truck deliveries at the city or municipality level beef up transport costs.
The 10% to 20% revenue the PPA derives from cargo handling charges as part of its revenue-generating function is “in conflict with its mandate to regulate port operation,” PCCI said.
The group also clamored for the transfer of the regulatory functions of the former Department of Trade and Industry’s Philippine Shippers Bureau to DOTr’s Maritime Industry Authority “to regulate the unwarranted fees that international shipping lines impose on importers, exporters, and freight forwarders.”
PCCI likewise stressed the urgent need to address the country’s “severely problematic transport infrastructures, which have consistently posed serious threats to the competitiveness of the tourism and logistic sectors.”
Angelito Colona, PCCI director for transportation and logistics, pointed out that NAIA has exceeded its capacity and must be decongested.
To do this, PCCI proposed that, in the short term, local airlines be allowed to invest in the lighting and installation of air navigation systems in domestic airports to make them night-rated.
For the long term, government ought to make a firm decision to adopt a dual-airport policy, expand and fully utilize the Clark International Airport, and identify the location for the new Manila international airport.
PCCI further said a policy decision must be made to transfer cargo to Batangas and Subic ports, with Manila ports “similarly exceeding their rated capacity.” Colona said market incentives can be extended to encourage importers and exporters to shift their cargoes to these ports.
Meanwhile, PCCI stated it approved of the Duterte administration’s commitment to hike spending for vital infrastructure projects. The country’s largest business organization asked government to include in its priority projects the upgrading and expansion of the RoRo nautical highway system, rehabilitation and expansion of the Pan Philippine Highway, and adoption of mass transit systems in Cebu and Davao.
It also batted for the construction of a highway or road around Laguna Lake and the development of a seamless light railway network including the acceleration of all MRT/LRT projects, and the putting up of a north and south railway for commuter and cargo transport.
PCCI, which earlier expressed support for the granting of emergency powers to the President to solve Metro Manila’s traffic woes, said it hopes to see such powers used to accelerate vital infrastructure projects.
The business group’s wish list for transportation and logistics will be highlighted during the organization’s 42nd Philippine Business Conference on October 12-13. – Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of photoraidz at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
