28/10/2026
𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐎𝐰𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐱? 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐎𝐮𝐭?
𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐂. 𝐁𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚
Chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board for Customs Brokers under the Professional Regulation Commission
In the first week of October, customs brokers staged a digital protest, holding back gate passes and terminal bookings, while five truckers’ groups declared a trucking holiday. Their first grievance was the same one heard in 2019, again during the pandemic, and again this February: there is nowhere to return the empty boxes. Earlier this year, yard utilization at the Manila International Container Port and Manila South Harbor breached 100%.
In my last column, I argued that the proposed Joint Administrative Order (JAO) is the unified mandate that old customs orders never were. As of this writing, the Department of Finance has signed it, and the other agencies are finalizing their comments. That is progress. But we should be clear about what a JAO can and cannot do. It can regulate how shipping lines charge, allocate space, and retrieve their equipment. It cannot pour concrete, lay rail, or change where our cargo goes. At its root, the empty-container problem is one of physical capacity and flow, and it demands long-term, government-led infrastructure.
Ctto: PortCalls
FULL DETAILS:
https://portcalls.com/who-owns-the-box-who-builds-the-way-out/
Who Owns the Box, Rules can discipline shipping lines but only depots rail and barges will clear Manila’s empty containers