President Aquino should order the lifting of the truck ban in the City of Manila, which has contributed to the recent rise in consumer prices and has made it more expensive for businesses to operate in the country.
According to one of the country’s top economists, Manila’s truck ban, ordered by former President and city Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada, has failed to achieve its desired effects.
“Revoke the ban because it’s just creating traffic in other places and goods aren’t getting delivered,” University of Asia & the Pacific economist Victor Abola said.
Speaking during the First Metro Investment Corp.’s mid-year economic briefing, Abola said Malacañang should step in and force Manila’s local government to lift the truck ban, given the repercussions on the broader economy.
“It’s just throwing everything into chaos,” Abola said.
A study by Citigroup last March showed that losses due to the truck ban could reach as much as P320 billion, or the equivalent of 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
This dwarfs the potential benefits of P30 billion in real terms from the reduced traffic arising from the truck ban.
This new policy bans eight-wheelers and vehicles with a gross weight of above 4,500 kilos from plying Manila’s streets between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. in an apparent bid to ease traffic as construction starts on key projects such as the roads linking the North and South Luzon expressways.
There is a temporary concession to allow trucks to ply the streets between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Abola said recent reports from importers painted a grim picture. Before the truck ban, it used to take an average of two to three days to unload goods from ships at Manila’s ports.
“Now it’s up to two to four weeks to get their goods brought down to the port,” Abola said. He said these delays have contributed to the tight supply of food in the country, which has pushed average consumer prices up.
Nine analysts polled by the Inquirer this week said inflation could reach at least 4.6 percent in June, accelerating from 4.5 percent in May. If the projections were correct, inflation would be at its highest in two and a half years. Paolo G. Montecillo, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Read more: http://business.inquirer.net/174075/economist-slams-chaos-brought-on-by-truck-ban#ixzz36ZEIz5w3
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook
July 2025
Nutrition Month
“Give us much more than P50 increase
for proper nutrition!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations
against serious violations of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideosturesVideos
July
3 July – International Day of Cooperatives
3 July – International Plastic Bag Free Day
5 July – World Youth Skills Day
7 July – Global Forgiveness Day
11 July – World Population Day
17 July – World Day for International Justice
28 July – World Nature Conservation Day
30 July – World Day against Trafficking in Persons
Monthly Observances:
Schools Safety Month
Nutrition Month
National Disaster Consciousness Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 2: Cultural Communities Week
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise
Development Week
Week 3: National Science and
Technology Week
National Disability Prevention and
Rehabilitation Week
July 1-7:
National Culture Consciousness Week
July 13-19:
Philippines Business Week
Week ending last Saturday of July:
Arbor Week
Daily Observances:
First Saturday of July:
International Cooperative Day
in the Philippines
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
