Operations at Manila South Harbor back to normal —PPA

The operations at the Manila South Harbor has returned to normal after they were temporarily stopped due to bad weather, which resulted in a heavy traffic jam along Roxas Boulevard.

In an update posted on its Facebook page, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said that the South Harbor terminal is now back to full commercial operations, while 80% of the backlog of approximately 1,000 boxes are already inside for processing.

A report by GMA News' Bernadette Reyes on Balitanghali said that the Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines are hoping they will not be fined. If trucks are no-show at their appointment in the terminal they will be fined P3,600.

Because of the disrupted operations, the P500 booking fee was also wasted. Truckers also need to shoulder P2,000 per day as additional cost for shipments which need refrigeration.

The biggest loss for truckers, however, will be for canceled transactions.

"'Yung mga export na na-shutdown ire-rebook po 'yun kasi hindi naman agad agad pwedeng ikarga sa ibang barko 'yun dahil kanya kanya sila ng destination," Ruperto Bayocot, chariman of Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines, said.

"Sana hind ma-cancel 'yung order ng buyer abroad... maghintay ng another schedule," Bayocot said.

Majority of the products affected by the temporary halt of port operations are the exports to Europe from Philippine Economic Zone in Cavite. — MDM, GMA News