A lawmaker on Monday said decongesting ports and ensuring faster shipping of goods would avert price hikes in provinces.
Quezon Rep. Reynan Arrogancia said the reported congestion in the port of Manila’s container yards have slowed down the unloading of containers from vessels and the transport of cargoes to their destination.
Arrogancia, who is vice-chairman of the House committee on transportation, warned that the delays in the shipment of goods to the provinces can cause artificial consumer price increases.
He said it is necessary to keep imported goods flowing efficiently out of the customs ports sans the bottlenecks and congestion, as it would minimize importation costs and ensure an adequate supply of goods especially in the provinces.
“Ports decongestion, especially of the major seaports in Manila, Batangas, Quezon, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, and Davao can reduce price hike incidents and risks,” he said. “The faster the import containers are shipped out, the sooner supplies in the provinces are replenished and retail prices there are stabilized.”
He said among the crucial imports are rice, wheat, wheat flour, corn, corn meal, and sugar.
“These are crucial commodities that must get to where they are needed so that no artificial localized price hikes happen,” he said.
He said while increasing local food production is part of the strategy to address the rising inflation and food supply issues, the local produce must get to the markets fast because foods are perishable.
“Time is of the essence. This is where subsidized service contracting services and food transport fuel subsidies can have their key impact,” he said.
