Christmas cargo, kingly treasures, Glory

EYES WIDE OPEN

- IRIS GONZALES

With Christmas just around the corner, cargo flow is peaking. It is, after all, the time of the year when Filipinos are in the mood to spend, ordering everything they can find online for the holidays and likewise sending goods to their families across the globe. OFWs are filling their balikbayan boxes which they will soon send to their loved ones here in the country.

This, of course, is good for the country. The flow of goods and people is always good for the economy. However, this otherwise positive development is facing challenges at NAIA, which is struggling with a shortage of warehouse space—a problem now overwhelming cargo operators.

Against this backdrop, Customs brokers have asked President Marcos to help resolve the problem, which stems from two gates at NAIA being shut down by court injunctions.

"Two gates with ramp access that would have allowed other warehouses to transport cargo directly to and from the aircraft have been shut down by court injunctions. If this were a horse race, all the gates would be locked except for one. And the bettors—in this case, the roughly 30 foreign airlines—have no choice but to sign up with the lone runner," they said in their letter published in The STAR on Monday.

One gate was shut down in 2020 and another, earlier this year by courts acting on complaints.

Unfortunately, they said, there is a cargo monopoly that is causing the problem by keeping the gates blocked.