The Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) has warned that granting the wish of foreign shipping firms to be excluded in the cabotage law could result in the death of the local shipping

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) has warned that granting the wish of foreign shipping firms to be excluded in the cabotage law could result in the death of the local shipping industry, similar to what happened in Indonesia.

Transportation Undersecretary Thompson Lantion yesterday said the Philippines could end up like Indonesia when it allowed foreign shipping vessels access to all ports in the country and it killed the local shipping industry.

Lantion said Congress will decide on whether to grant the request of foreign shipping firms to be exempted from the cabotage law, but that the government, through the DoTC, may appeal such a congressional approval.

“It is Congress which will be answerable to changes in the cabotage law since only another law can repeal it,” he moreover stressed.

Lantion said the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) under Undersecretary Elena Bautista will certainly study the matter carefully.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. earlier had asked the DoTC and Malacañang to seriously look into reports that foreign shipping firms have started lobbying to various lawmakers and congressmen for their exclusion in the cabotage law.

He said he had received reports that foreign vessel owners have been asking the government to be exempted in the “cabotage,” to allow them to not only sail from one docking point, but to allow them to sail to various docking points all over the Philippines, thus rivaling the existing local players.

Cabotage is a trade or navigation in coastal waters, or, the exclusive right of a country to operate the air traffic within its territory. Commonly used as part of the term “cabotage rights,” cabotage is the right of a company from one country to trade in another country.

Pimentel urged the government to protect local vessel owners from “abusive foreign ship owners,” saying granting their desire to be excluded in the cabotage would kill the local industry.

He said if a foreign vessel is allowed to dock port anywhere in the country, it may offer lower fares and freights than those of Philippine ships, but this is because of tax exemptions they seek to be made available for their operation in the country.

The senator called on government agencies such as the DoTC and Marina to investigate the reported lobbying of foreign ship owners to be excluded in the cabotage.

He said the government should try and determine first the effects to the local industry if the foreign firms are allowed exclusion from the law.

Meanwhile, on the contrary, Sen. Edgardo Angara expressed support for the exemption of foreign shipping firms from the cabotage, saying it will actually bring down the cost of the transport of goods in the Philippines by some 30 percent.

“This has been a long standing issue. If we allow the foreign shipping firms to ship to different ports, it will bring down or lower shipping costs by 30 percent,” he said.

Angara said he will push for a review of the cabotage law in the country in the aim of seeking amendments to it and help boost the economy by cutting down the cost of transporting goods through ships. –Jason Faustino, Daily Tribune