Manila port congestion may take months to clear: BOC

• Manila’s port congestion will persist and could take months to clear, according to Bureau of Customs deputy commissioner for Assessment Operations and Coordinating Group Atty Agaton Uvero

• Import dwell time in Manila averages 8 days against an ideal 5 to 6 days

• A joint administrative order meant to ease congestion is expected to be signed very soon 

Uvero said Luzon’s ports are bringing in more containers than they are shipping out. Based on data from January to October 18, 2026, covering laden and empty twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the Manila International Container Port (MICP) handled 1.36 million TEUs of imports. About 1 million TEUs were exported, or equivalent to only 74% of imports.

The Port of Manila (POM) handled 531,831 TEUs of imports and 674,054 TEUs of exports, an export-to-import ratio of 127%.

Batangas processed 125,123 TEUs of imports and 132,789 TEUs of exports, or 106%. No figures were given for Subic, another key port in Luzon.

Proposed solutions

Uvero suggested the following steps, which would need action from other agencies or from industry:

• The government should require all shipping lines to deploy sweeper vessels to move empty containers out.
• Ships should be diverted to less congested ports such as Subic and Batangas.
• National agencies should coordinate with local government units to ease cargo transfers and fix the truck ban.
• Fast cargo lanes should be designated.

He said the only step within the BOC’s own power is lifting the 90-day regulation, which he floated as an option but did not say the bureau has decided to take. Under Customs Administrative Order (CAO) No. 08-2019, shipping containers brought into the Philippines are treated as temporarily imported. They must be shipped out again within 90 days, counted from the date their cargo was last unloaded.

Industry proposals: one regulator, depots for shipping lines

Erich Lingad, a former PMTLAI president, also offered suggestions at the meeting:

• A single regulator for shipping lines. One government agency should oversee shipping lines, rather than the current setup in which several agencies share the job.
• Depots operated by shipping lines. Shipping lines should have their own container depots, so that empties are not left to pile up at public ports and yards.
• Generic sweepers. Sweeper vessels should be generic, meaning they can carry empty containers for any shipping line instead of serving one line only.

In the meantime, the BOC is talking with the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) about lots in Metro Manila, and is looking at government-owned yards to hold empty containers. The bureau is also pressing container yards to act, and there is a proposal to automate container yard movements. Cabinet Secretary Benjamin Abalos, Jr. is leading the government’s effort to fix port congestion, Uvero said.

Joint order out soon

Uvero said the proposed joint administrative order (JAO) that targets port congestion, high logistics costs and slow returns of empty containers is expected to be signed in about two weeks. He said it will help ease congestion and give government more power to scrutinize shipping lines.

Under the proposed JAO, BOC would be the lead agency, working with the Department of Finance, Department of Transportation, Department of Trade and Industry, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Maritime Industry Authority and Philippine Competition Commission. It revives and widens a 2019 proposal, and covers shipping lines as well as truckers, container yards and other logistics providers.

Key provisions in the draft include:

• Shipping lines and their agents should observe transparency, uniformity, and
  reasonableness in the imposition and collection of charges relating to the handling, release, movement and return of cargo and containers, including origin, freight and local charges BOC will oversee compliance with this requirement.
• In all instances, shipping lines should ensure a yard allocation of at least 130% of the projected daily inventory of containers based on historical data as determined by BOC  after consultation
• Container deposits must be refunded within 15 days of a shipping line’s receipt of the equipment interchange report
• Demurrage should be imposed on a per-container basis. No demurrage or detention charges may be imposed on any laden container that is released from the port within the free period, notwithstanding that other containers covered by the same bill of lading remain in the port beyond the free time.
• PPA must establish the conditions for declaring port congestion based on the guidelines prescribed and approved by the PPA Board, taking into account port-specific congestion indicators, after due consultation with international shipping lines, port terminal operators, and other stakeholders.
• The draft JAO sets penalties ranging from ₱5,000 to as much as ₱100,000 depending on the offense.

Three departments will sign the order: the Department of Finance, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Trade and Industry. Getting all three to agree on the final text is part of what has made the process slow.

The signing has slipped before. The BOC first aimed for August, then moved to September after asking Finance for more review time and incorporating comments from 42 entities. The JAO remains pending.

Sweeper vessels are not new. In 2014, PortCalls reported that carriers’ sweepers cleared about a fifth of the 17,000 to 22,000 empties then clogging Manila ports.

Asian Terminals Inc., operator of Manila South Harbor, has also been implementing the Empty Loadout Shipping Alliance (ELSA) with the Association of International Shipping Lines.

ELSA is an initiative that began in 2019 and allows partner shipping lines to share vessel resources. The measure enables lines to immediately evacuate empty containers from Manila South Harbor (Port of Manila) regardless of which shipping line owned the container.