Asian Terminals Inc. said its Manila and Batangas ports are operating at optimum level, facilitating the uninterrupted flow of goods in the supply chain over a month since the implementation of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon.
“We are grateful to PPA, BOC, DTI, and DOF as well as the Interagency Task Force for setting the right policy at the onset of the ECQ. Government’s early intervention was critical to ensure that terminal operations remain unimpeded, so that the flow of food, raw materials, medicines, health equipment and other essentials remain unhampered, especially during this time of national emergency,” said ATI executive vice president William Khoury.
“We also thank our dockworkers, our valued customers and other stakeholders for their support and for coming together to ensure that our ports remain upbeat at this critical juncture,” Khoury added.
In early April, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Finance, Philippine Ports Authority and the Bureau of Customs issued Joint Administrative Order (JAO) 20-01 that established stringent guidelines for the expedient and unhampered flow of cargoes from the terminals during the ECQ.
The order has pre-empted possible logistics bottlenecks during the ECQ with containers, especially refrigerated vans, being pulled out slower than usual by cargo owners. With the government order, overstaying cargoes are being transferred to offsite container yards to free up precious space at the container terminals.
A week after the Lenten break, berth and yard operations at Manila South Harbor remained steady, with yard utilization at an optimum level of around 70 percent.
Over in Batangas, yard utilization at the Batangas Container Terminal remained at its usual 50 percent, with manufacturers and industrial locators, mostly based in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), pulling out cargoes in a regular and timely manner.
While the situation has remained stable, the terminal operator underscored that the ports and logistics community should not let up on the positive gains, but rather keep up the pace in inducing cargo movement.
Consignees are reminded to pull out containers from the terminal at the soonest possible time, while other players such as private warehouses are encouraged to step up operations as important linkages in the logistics cycle.
Meanwhile, in related developments, the Bureau of Customs –Port of Manila increased the operations of its X-ray division at Manila South Harbor to speed up container releases. X-ray examinations now run round-the-clock 24 hours a day, seven days a week.