Claim that truck ban cost BoC millions baseless

The Inquirer’s March 18 editorial noted that because of the truck ban imposed by the city government of Manila, the Bureau of Customs lost, between Feb. 24 and 26, 2014, P489 million in revenue collections—specifically, P272.59 million at the Port of Manila and P217.39  million at the Manila International Container Port.

Customs duties are paid when the shipments reach the Customs collection districts, not when they leave the gates of the districts. The claim by the bureau has, therefore, no basis.

Secondly, cargo ships did not bypass the ports in Manila because of the truck ban. This means that Customs collection should be unaffected by the truck ban. It only means that more containers were temporarily stored in the container port—emphasis on the “temporarily.”

Third, in the best-(or worst-?)case scenario, a ship moves to Batangas or other Philippine ports for cargo delivery. This means the bureau should still be able to collect the same amount on the diverted shipments, albeit the collection districts in Manila will have lower collections.

The manufacturing companies in Calabarzon will continue to produce regardless of what the mayor of Manila does; but when company employees stop working due to lack of raw materials, that is the time it can be said that the truck ban has adversely affected their operations. But it also means failure of management.

—Rodolfo D. Paiso,

rdpowermarine@yahoo.com