MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the country’s largest business organization, has warned of port congestion arising anew in Manila if no new roads are built in the medium term.

In a statement over the weekend, PCCI expressed support for a proposal for an elevated expressway project that would ease port congestion at the port of Manila and help spare consumers, exporters and importers from high costs of deliveries.

“Our membership is concerned over the repeat of the port congestion last 2014 resulting in business losses amounting to P70 billion if no new road infrastructures are put in place in the medium term,” PCCI president Alfredo Yao said.

“From our point of view, the so-called port congestion is only the result of the real problem of road congestion,” he added.

Yao said PCCI is hoping the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) would approve early the implementation of an elevated expressway project from the port of Manila to the Stage 3 of the Skyway.

Yao said the proposed expressway would give 24/7 access to trucks and other vehicles travelling along the stretch of North Boulevard and R-10 to the Skyway Stage 3 project.
Yao said almost half of the number of delivery trucks from the port of Manila would drive up to the proposed elevated link to Stage 3 and benefit from the “drastically” reduced travel time to their destinations outside Metro Manila.“The proposal is a PPP project won by San Miguel/Citra.  It has been submitted to the Toll Regulatory Board. When completed, the Skyway Stage 3 project would link the North and South Luzon expressways from Buendia in Makati to Balintawak in Caloocan City,” the group said.

“Continuity of business is key to PCCI. By accelerating the movement of raw materials and finished goods to and from the ports, we are certain this proposed project would increase productivity and propel the growth of our economy,” Yao said.

Yao said traffic volumes at the ground streets of Metro Manila even during non-truck ban hours would also be cut by almost half.

He said the worsening traffic in Metro Manila cost the economy an estimated P140 billion annually, citing data from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.