By EMMIE V. ABADILLA Manila's sea ports are now so congested with overstaying cargoes after the Luzon lockdown that state authorities threatened to close them. Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago yesterday warned of a possible port shut¬down if cargo owners and consignees continue to shun calls to withdraw cleared and ready for delivery cargoes. Despite efforts to transfer overstaying containers from the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) to a facility inside the Manila North Harbor, there are still not enough breathing space for the Manila port terminals to operate efficiently, he explained. Yard utilization at the Manila international ports, composed of the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) and the Manila South Harbor, are almost 100 per cent full. Most cargoes remained idle after the government implemented the Community Quarantine some two weeks ago. As of Friday, over 800 cleared reefer vans are inside the MICT containing perishables like food, medicines and other essentials while more than 2,000 dry containers already cleared and ready for delivery remain inside the terminal. This number has shot up as of press time. As a stop-gap measure, PPA has authorized an area at the Manila North Harbor, the country’s premiere domestic terminal so all overstaying foreign containers already cleared for delivery or withdrawal can be transferred there. Over the weekend, the PPA, along with the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) are now looking at measures to prevent congestion at the ports after the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases issued an order to clear the ports with containers. They are also considering forfeiture of overstaying car¬goes in favor of government and reducing the cargo clearing period. In addition, they are mulling to grant free storage period from the current allowable time in order to force the cargo owners to withdraw as they will be burdened with heavy fines, penalties and storage fees. The agencies are expected to come out with a Joint Memo¬randum Circular for yard management of the Manila ports. Earlier, the MICT called for solidarity among port and shipping stakeholders to reduce congestion at the terminal. The appeal which was signed   by International Container Terminal Services, Inc. vice president Christian R. Gonza­les, urged all cargo owners and stakeholders to regularly with­draw the reefer vans and other containerized cargoes already cleared by the BOC to guarantee that the terminal will be operat­ing under optimal condition. The longer the wait, the longer the disservice will be to the country as it continues its battle against COVID-19, he noted. “Ports, specifically the Manila ports, are the lungs of the country’s commerce and trade. These lungs right now are not functioning efficiently due to congestion,” according to PPA GM Santiago. “If we continue to ignore calls to withdraw even only those cleared, ready for delivery, and overstaying car¬goes, these lungs are in danger of total collapse, resulting in full-blown port congestion, or worst, a shutdown and shortage in goods and supplies," he elaborated. “Again, the government is appealing to the consignees, cargo owners, brokers, logistics, manufacturers and other supply chain service providers to help us address this situation by withdrawing their cargoes,” Santiago reiterated. “We really need to clear these cargoes to accommodate the incoming ones as most of our needs to fight this COVID-19 pandemic are in these incoming cargoes.”