The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) will continue pushing for a policy on chassis roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) in support of the ASEAN Ro-Ro agenda of President Benigno S. Aquino III.  

Henry Basilio, the co-champion of the NCC Infrastructure Working Group, noted that imperative to the success of the ASEAN Ro-Ro initiative is the issuance of an executive order (EO) that would make chassis Ro-Ro (Cha-Ro) part of the Ro-Ro service.

Basilio said the Philippines must allow the trailer trucks to be part of the Ro-Ro transport system, as done by other countries.

Meneleo Carlos, also the co-chairman of the NCC Infrastructure Working Group, said Cha-Ro will allow export-import containers to be trans shipped domestically through Ro-Ro at a lower cost. 

The Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) of the Philippines likewise believes that the Cha-Ro policy can help remove unnecessary as well as unauthorized fees affecting Ro-Ro traffic.

It has recommended amending the Ro-Ro policy to include chassis Ro-Ro as well as ensuring that Ro-Ro bills of landing are more transparent.

Meanwhile, Carlos cited the need for the Philippines to increase its infrastructure spending to five to 10 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

The Philippines spends a lower percentage of GDP on infrastructure than competing ASEAN economies. Its public sector infrastructure budget has been consistently below three percent of GDP.

"We want (implementation of) infrastructures to go on. The government knows what they want to do. I think, it is just a matter of implementing these, so more and more investments will be poured into infrastructure projects," he noted.

The government late last year presented to investors 10 priority infrastructure projects for public-private partnerships (PPP). But so far, it only auctioned off the Daang Hari Road linkup to the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) project.

The project involves the construction, operation, and maintenance of a four-kilometer road linking Daang Hari Road in Cavite to the South SLEX.

original source: www.pia.gov.ph