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A solon has asked the Philippine Ports Authority to cut cargo-handling rates at Zamboanga port to help local traders suffering from high fees
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Higher fees kicked in with the entry of a new port operator last year
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Cargo-handling rates more than tripled with tariff for a sack of rice now at P70, up from P15
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PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago acknowledged the Zamboanga port rates have risen but that cargo-handling costs only account for less than 5% of the total logistics cost
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Santiago promised PPA will rationalize the port’s tariff system
A solon has asked the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to cut cargo-handling rates at Zamboanga port to aid traders suffering from high fees since a new port operator took over last year.
Zamboanga 1st District Representative Khymer Adan Olaso said cargo-handling rates at the port have more than tripled, with the tariff for a sack of rice now at P70 from P15 previously. He brought up the rate issue during a recent joint virtual hearing on various bills by the Lower House Committees on Transportation, Government Enterprises and Privatization.
Olaso claimed the high rates in Zamboanga port have forced some traders, particularly those with very small business volumes, to use other finger wharves and illegal structures instead. He said those particularly affected are small traders in Basulta (Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi), who sell their produce in Zamboanga City.
“Let us help the people in Basulta. We are not like Manila. Mababa po mga sahod dito (Wages are low here),” said Olaso, author of House Bill No. 4596 which seeks to create a new port authority in Zamboanga City that will operate its ports.
Olaso said he will withdraw his bill if PPA can assure him rates will be reduced.
The new cargo-handling charges at Zamboanga port are pursuant to PPA Administrative Order No. 10-2019, which took effect when the new port operator, Globalport Zamboanga Terminal Inc., took over last year. Globalport won the bidding for a 15-year concession under PPA’s Port Terminal Management Regulatory Framework (PTMRF).
PPA AO 10-2019 provides uniform port tariffs that serve as base tariffs for operators of ports categorized as Tier 3 under the PTMRF.
PPA began bidding out ports in 2020 under the PTMRF, which outlines new rules for terminal management contracts.
RELATED READ: PPA sees 600% more revenues under new port contract scheme
Various stakeholders, however, have raised concerns about AO 10-2019, as their calculations showed the order has effectively tripled port rates. PPA has based the rates in AO 10-2019 covering Cagayan De Oro port, which has the highest tariff among PPA ports.
The National Economic and Development Authority Regional Development Council IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) requested PPA last year to suspend implementation of the new tariff rates in the port of Zamboanga.
The Industrial Group of Zamboanga Inc. and the Zamboanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry, along with other cargo owners and domestic shipping lines, also opposed the issuance of the AO.
RDC VIII and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tacloban-Leyte Inc. likewise requested last year a suspension of the new rates, which were implemented in Tacloban, Ormoc, and other ports in Eastern Visayas where new operators had taken over under the PTMRF contract.
READ: NEDA regional council backs suspension of new port tariffs in Visayas
PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago, in the same hearing, acknowledged the rates in Zamboanga port have risen. He claimed, however, that the cargo-handling cost accounts for less than 5% of the total logistics costs, thus the increase in logistics or commodities costs cannot be attributed solely to the higher cargo-handling rates.
“Based on our study, other factors have contributed to the increase in prices in that area,” Santiago said.
RELATED READ: Tier 3 port tariff stays, says PPA
On allegations PPA is taking advantage of tariff increases, Santiago said the agency now gets only a flat fee and “does not partake of any percentage in any revenue increase anymore” under the PTMRF.
Santiago promised to rationalize the tariff system in Zamboanga, adding that “whatever amounts or whatever tariff prices our brother Zamboangeños are facing or have to go through, it will be compensated by more efficient and more modern service in that particular area.”
Santiago said new equipment have been put in place and cargo-handling has been digitalized by the new port operator in Zamboanga. A new passenger terminal building is also being built that will become the biggest in the country when completed, he added. – Roumina Pablo
