Emergency powers sought for Aquino to quash trucking ban

Manila: Politicians in Manila are mulling giving President Benigno Aquino emergency powers to lift the truck ban in the Philippine capital.

"The representatives from Metro Manila are willing to issue an emergency power [for the President] to normalize the situation in the trucking system," said Quezon City Representative Winston Castelo, chairperson of the House committee on Metro Manila Development, during a session looking at congestion at Manila’s ports.

Ordinance 8336 passed by the Manila City Council early this year prohibits eight-wheeler trucks with a gross weight of more than 4,500 kilograms from taking the streets of Manila from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Ports Authority and Manila's port operators are sending overstaying customs-cleared boxes to Laguna to a 4-hectare facility in Cabuyao.