Philippines Readies a Port Congestion Order That Makes Shipping Lines Pay for Their Empty Containers in Manila

Manila has too many boxes. Thousands of empty containers are waiting for someone to take them back. They sit in terminals, in truck yards and on flatbeds parked along the roads to the port. As of late October 2026 the Philippine government is close to signing a joint administrative order that would make the shipping lines own that problem, on paper and in pesos.

The Department of Finance signed the draft order around October 21. Undersecretary Rolando Ligon Jr. said the other agencies had until that week to comment and could sign the week after if nothing new came up. The Bureau of Customs leads it. Transport, trade, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Philippine Ports Authority, MARINA and the competition commission all sign too. Customs first wanted it out in August, then pushed it to September to take in comments from 42 parties. It's late. It's also the most detailed attempt yet to say who pays when a port clogs.

How the empties piled up

The root cause is trade balance. The Philippines takes in about three laden containers for every one it sends out, a pattern that goes back to 2018. Boxes arrive full, get emptied inland, and then need somewhere to go. Carriers have little reason to rush them out because there's not much export cargo to fill them.

So the empties come back to the port area and wait. At a September 23 forum truckers said depots made them wait up to two weeks to accept a returned box. Customs brokers said some foreign lines refused returns for up to a month. Meanwhile the trucks stayed loaded with steel nobody would take, and the detention clock kept running against the importer.

Yard utilization at Manila International Container Port and Manila South Harbor went past 100% at points earlier this year. It eased from March, climbed again in late April, and has come down at South Harbor since. The pressure never fully went away.

It broke into the open in October. On October 5 customs brokers began a "digital protest and rest day" and five trucking and port groups called a trucking holiday that ran through October 8. The truckers' alliance said only about 10% of volumes were moving out of Manila's ports. The protest paused once ICTSI and Asian Terminals Inc. started taking empties again.

Hapag-Lloyd took the blunt option

Before the protests started, Hapag-Lloyd had already stopped taking new bookings to Manila, Batangas and Subic Bay, from every origin and on every trade lane. The suspension began September 29 and runs to December 31. That shuts all three main Luzon container gateways on its network for the peak import season before Christmas.

As far as public reporting goes, no other major line has gone that far. Analysts at AB Capital warned others could follow. If they do, a landside jam turns into a capacity problem on the water, and cargo gets squeezed onto the carriers still calling, at whatever rate they choose to charge. The bigger Asian hubs are already strained, with port delays tying up about 3 million TEU of box capacity, roughly 8.5% of the global fleet by Sea-Intelligence's count.

What the order puts on the carriers

The draft is specific. Shipping lines must keep off-dock yards or inland depots ready to take returned containers, and they must hold yard space of at least 130% of their projected daily container inventory. If a line's actual inventory runs above that for 15 days straight, it pays a penalty unless it finds more depot space or sends a sweeper vessel to lift the empties out.

Port-side, the default "normal" yard utilization at Manila and MICP is set at 75% until operators, customs and the ports authority agree a real number within 15 days. Run 5% over it for 15 days and customs starts moving laden boxes out. Go past 100%, or have a congestion declaration from the transport secretary, and foreign ships can be sent to unload at an extension port.

Then the money side. Customs, with the competition commission, trade department and MARINA, will set a standard list of shipping line charges with ceilings. Hidden or misleading charges are banned. Container deposits have to be refunded within 15 days of the line getting the equipment interchange report. Demurrage is charged per box, so one slow container can't drag charges onto the rest of a bill of lading. Charges for services inside the Philippines become taxable income, subject to VAT.

Fines run from ₱5,000 to ₱100,000. That's small money for a global carrier. The 130% yard rule and the charge ceilings are what actually bite, because they turn an unpriced cost into a line on the carrier's books.

Who ends up paying

Until now importers and truckers carried most of it, in detention fees, idle trucks and cargo that sat. The order tries to move that cost to the party that controls the empties. Carriers will push back, and some will price the new rules into Philippine freight and local charges.

A 2018 standoff over the same issue ended with an interim deal capping the wait for empty returns at 24 hours. It didn't hold. This time the rules come with a regulator, a complaint desk and a schedule. Whether the lines comply or simply call less often is the test after signing.