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Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno has constituted a high-level Technical Working Group and Task Force to address operational bottlenecks at Manila’s major seaports and airports
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The task force is chaired by Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group Deputy Commissioner Atty. Agaton Teodoro Uvero with Assistant Commissioner Atty. Vincent Philip Maronilla as Vice Chairperson
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It will coordinate with key government agencies — including the Department of Transportation, Philippine Ports Authority, Manila International Airport Authority, Philippine Economic Zone Authority , and New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. — as well as private sector stakeholders, including customs brokers, trucking groups, port users, and container yard operators
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The move comes amid a prolonged cargo congestion crisis at the Manila International Container Terminal, Manila South Harbor, and NAIA, where elevated yard utilization at the seaports and collapsed warehouse capacity at the airport have disrupted supply chains and threatened production shutdowns in the semiconductor industry
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has formed a dedicated Technical Working Group (TWG) and Task Force to tackle the cargo congestion that has been gripping Manila’s major seaports and Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) — a crisis that has disrupted supply chains, driven up logistics costs, and forced at least two global technology companies to suspend production of some of its lines.
The task force was constituted under Customs Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno, who personally conducted a walkthrough inspection of an air cargo warehouse facility before issuing the order. The visit allowed Nepomuceno to observe firsthand the traffic flow, cargo handling processes, and operational challenges faced by stakeholders, BOC said in a statement.
The TWG will be chaired by Deputy Commissioner Atty. Agaton Teodoro Uvero of the Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group (AOCG), with Assistant Commissioner Atty. Vincent Philip Maronilla of the Post Clearance Audit Group serving as Vice Chairperson. Its members include the district collectors of the Manila International Container Port (MICP), the Port of Manila, and the NAIA, together with the Director of the Port Operations Service.
The task force’s mandate covers three broad areas: developing coordinated measures to improve cargo movement and clearance; addressing concerns involving the return and monitoring of containers and Unit Load Devices; and resolving operational bottlenecks affecting trade facilitation at the country’s major gateways.
Recognizing that port and airport congestion is not a problem any single agency can solve alone, the BOC said it will work closely with the Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Transportation, Department of Agriculture, Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), and New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. (NNIC). Private sector stakeholders — including customs brokers, logistics providers, trucking groups, port users, warehouse and container yard operators, and PEZA locators — will also be engaged to ensure that solutions are practical and grounded in operational reality.
The TWG will report directly to the Office of the Commissioner and coordinate with the DOF through the Office of the Undersecretary for the Revenue Operations Group to ensure timely implementation of its recommendations.
“The efficient movement of cargo is a shared responsibility that requires close coordination between government and the private sector. Hindi natin ito kayang gawin kung magkakanya-kanya (We can’t accomplish this if we take different directions). Through this Task Force, we are bringing the right stakeholders and government agencies together to resolve operational issues quickly, keep cargo moving efficiently, and ensure that legitimate trade continues to flow while maintaining the integrity of our customs controls,” Nepomuceno said.
Congestion crisis
The formation of the task force is the latest in a series of escalating interventions by BOC as it grapples with a congestion problem that has built up over months at both sea and air gateways.
At Manila’s two major container terminals — MICP and Manila South Harbor — yard utilization breached 100% at points earlier this year, driven by slow container withdrawal by importers, a truck fleet tied up by full off-dock depots, and a backlog of empty containers that foreign shipping lines have been slow to repatriate. The situation eased somewhat from March before climbing again in late April.
In June, BOC ordered three immediate measures: the mandatory transfer of overstaying laden containers to off-dock yards, a strict five-day processing window for goods declarations, and the deployment of sweeper vessels for the evacuation of empty containers. MICP separately announced temporary measures on shipping lines effective July 15, tightening controls on vessel exchange volumes to ease yard pressure.
READ: Manila’s Cargo Crisis — When Sea and Air Feel the Squeeze
At NAIA, the congestion crisis has been as acute and its consequences more immediate. The closure of Philippine Skylanders International’s cargo facility — after NNIC reclaimed its premises for redevelopment following its 2024 takeover of the airport — left Paircargo and Cargohaus as the only customs bonded warehouses serving multiple carriers. Paircargo, handling roughly 70% of NAIA’s air cargo volume due to its direct ramp access, has borne the brunt of the resulting surge. Air cargo clearance rates dropped from 95% of shipments processed in less than three days last year to just 76%, devastating manufacturers that depend on just-in-time delivery of semiconductor components — all of which move exclusively by air.
READ: NAIA air cargo crunch hits semiconductor industry
Manila’s Cargo Crisis: Capacity Crunch at the Airport
Paircargo has since commissioned a satellite warehouse nearly the same size as the closed NAIA International Cargo Terminal, implemented 24-hour cargo releasing, and procured additional equipment. BOC-NAIA extended its operating hours to 7 am–9 pm daily including weekends, and converted the Duty Free/Columbia Complex into a satellite processing facility after NNIC agreed to make the space available. BOC has also explored temporarily declaring the old Miascor area — shuttered since 2018 — as a customs processing zone.
READ: Relief on the way for NAIA air cargo crisis – Paircargo
A complicating factor across both gateways is the BOC’s aging Electronic-to-Mobile (e2M) system, the customs clearance platform through which all import transactions must pass. Widely regarded as past its operational prime, e2M’s slowdowns and periodic downtime add hours or days to routine clearance transactions, compounding the congestion at terminals already strained by high volume and limited space. BOC has said bidding for the proposed Customs Processing System — e2M’s successor — is targeted for July 2026, with rollout planned for March 2028.
BOC has also recently issued a draft joint administrative order seeking stakeholder input on policies to address high logistics costs, port congestion, and the inefficient return of empty containers — signaling that the push for systemic, long-term solutions is gaining momentum alongside the near-term fixes.
READ: JAO on local shipping charges, yard utilization eyed for signing by Aug
The task force represents BOC’s most formal and structured response yet to a crisis that has exposed structural gaps in the country’s trade infrastructure — gaps that, as Nepomuceno acknowledged, can only be closed through concerted action by government and industry working together.
