Task force to shippers, consignees: Now is right time to get cargoes in ports

April 5, 2020

The Joint Task Force Corona Virus Shield (JTF CV Shield) on Sunday urged shippers and consignees to take advantage of the traffic jam-free situation in all the major thoroughfares across the country by retrieving their container vans in order to decongest all the ports, especially in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon where the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is strictly being implemented.

In a statement, JFT CV Shield commander Police Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar said the traffic situation in Luzon, especially the roads leading to and from the Manila International Container Terminal and the Manila South Harbor, are ideal for unhampered movement of shipments and even empty containers back to the shippers or consignees’ warehouses and other storage.

“We have designated special lanes and we are also giving special consideration to cargo vehicles in order to ensure unnecessary and redundant inspections. This is the right time for the shippers and consignees to move out their shipments from the ports and eventually lead to the decongestion of our ports,” Eleazar said.

Eleazar said Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Archie Francisco Gamboa earlier approved the deployment of the PNP-Highway Patrol Group (HPG) personnel to secure cargo vehicles along major thoroughfares by setting up Dedicated Control Points (DCPs).

“It is only at the DCPs where cargo vehicles are allowed to be inspected,” he said.

In coordination with the Department of Transportation, Philippine Ports Authority and the PNP, Eleazar assured haulers, owners and shippers of unhampered movement of cargo trucks coming out of the ports, citing the existing protocol crafted by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) in handling cargo vehicles.

“The inspection of these cargo vehicles will only be done at the Dedicated Control Points, and if only necessary,” he added.

In 2014, congestion in Metro Manila ports became a huge problem and resulted in the P2.5 billion daily loss to the economy, according to the House of Transportation Committee. Attempts to decongest the ports resulted in monstrous traffic jams along major thoroughfares leading to Manila.

Congestion has been a recurring problem especially in the two ports of Metro Manila.

“With the present traffic situation especially in Metro Manila, we, in the JTF CV Shield, believe that this should serve as an encouragement for the haulers, owners and consignees to transport the shipments out of the ports,” he said.

Eleazar said the decongestion of ports is a way of preparing for their normal operations once the ECQ is lifted. Ella Dionisio/DMS