The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said that the release of van containers from the country’s capital city, Manila, is expected to slow this Holy Week.
According to PPA General Manager Jay Santiago, cargo release will continue on Maundy Thursday, halt on Good Friday and resume on Black Saturday.
He assured that despite the temporary delay in shipments, the unloading would still take place to avoid further congestion at the Manila port.
“Although it will slow, there are ships scheduled to unload cargoes. We will see 4 days that there will be no pull out of cargoes but our unloading is still at 100 percent,” Santiago said.
Authorities have earlier reported that the ports in Manila, which serve as the international gateway ports, have been congested due to the implementation of enhanced community quarantine in Luzon.
They have also appealed to cargo owners, consignees and truckers to immediately withdraw their cleared yet overstaying cargoes. Out of the 35,000 cargoes that arrived in Manila ports since March 15, around 7,000 still remains.
“If we don’t keep the momentum of the cargoes’ release, our situation is volatile, our ports may become full again,” PPA’s head furthered.
Santiago warned that once the ports reached their full capacities, the more valuable cargoes, that are intended for the country, which may contain food and medical equipment needed might not be unloaded.
“We really need to clear these cargoes to accommodate the incoming ones as most of our needs to fight this COVID-19 pandemic are in these incoming cargoes,” he said.
