By DONALD SEVILLA
A SMOOTH OPERATOR
I haven’t used the city’s port services until recently when I had to fetch some personal effects shipped from Cebu.
While the port was clean and orderly, looking professionally run, I heard, by new management, I was in for a big surprise..
The items shipped were shrink-wrapped, stacked in 2 pallets although not quite full. These were not heavy as these consisted of a few boxes of personal stuff, a small ref, window airconditioner, a single sectional couch and a few pieces of knock down wardrobe furniture.
It didn’t seem much and I expected to pay a few hundred pesos to claim the items. When shipped from the port of Cebu, arrastre and port charges amounted to roughly Php850 which was a far cry from what I used to pay when shipping similar items back then.
But claiming it from our city’s port and paying the total charges that amounted to about Php 1,400 came as a shock.
A few months back, the local business community raised a howl as they were complaining about the arrastre charges imposed by the new cargo handler which is 3 times that of the old rates.
As usual, while it raised a furor then, the issue died down and we heard nothing more. It’s no surprise the city’s port looked clean and orderly as businesses opted to ship their goods elsewhere at the outports.
The port is a crucial component of the local economy as goods travel and flow through it. Controlling the port is big business that makes good money.
But if our port authorities aim to level up its management and efficiency, why are we Boholanos bearing the brunt of higher port charges than our Cebuano neighbors? If rates were standardized, why is our arrastre more expensive than Cebu?
This may seem minor but remember these charges are passed on to the consuming public. Have we ever wondered why we are paying 20% more for our groceries than our neighbors? Add the fact that monopolies exist in our province for retail distribution and others, hence, we end up being one of the most expensive places to live hereabouts.
I talked to a local businessman in the sand and gravel business and he expressed dismay at the new port rates as they have to pay Php200/ cu.m for their aggregates to unload from the barges into their dumptrucks which simply roll off into the pier. This is almost equal to the actual direct cost of a quarrying operation. No wonder our sand and gravel now is priced at an average of P1,700/cu.m in the market compared to P1,200/ cu.m before!
Is this not true? We can complain no end but these corporate profiteers can simply wait out the issue until it is conveniently forgotten, taken over by other matters.
We are a patient and stoical people who often suffer in silence. While these character traits are admirable, these are also susceptible to abuse .
When the port authority terminated the contract of the previous cargo handler and awarded it to a new one, this was done far away from the awarenes of the Boholano public. When the new rates were imposed, was there a public hearing conducted where the affected local community could react?
While it was a done deal hatched in the capital, legally concocted and perfected, was our local community ever consulted? We’ve heard complaints from ordinàry folks of excessive parking charges at the pier and yet government agencies supposedly in the service of our people seem oblivious.
Development costs of our ports are funded by the people’s taxes only to be given to private entities to manage and profit from after completion.
We pay for these facilities to be built and we pay to use them. Though understandably these infrastructures have to be maintained and kept to last, somehow there is irony to it as those who benefit most and profit from it are private entities close to the powers that be.
Pretty soon all our ports in the province will be under the control of big port operators and corporate conglomerates based in our nation’s capital.
Yet what have our local leaders done to mitigate the negative impact these services bring us? We continue to complain about the high cost of basic goods in our community but we haven’t done anything to address it.
Our political leaders have been silent and helpless to fight for us. Should everything be about money and profit? Everywhere we go, we pay, for the casual parking to unreasonable entrance fees for our tourist spots. Do we have cause to complain? Where can we air our grievances?
These should lead us ordinary folks to think long and hard. Is our government truly for the people, by the people and of the people? It seems like those who benefit most in our society are the people who hold positions of power and influence.
Who owns Gĺobalport Bohol Terminal Inc. ?
COMPAŔATIVE SUMMARY OF PORT CHARGES
CEBU
Shipping/Freight P 2,402.16
Cebu Port Àuthority 161.00
Arrastre 701.00
P 3,264.16
TAGBILARAN
PPA 50.40
Arràstre 1,369.20
P1,419.60
* pls take note that Tagb. arrastre & stevedoring charges are more than half of the freight/shipping cost.