A tiny pebble in a shoe can be ignored for a few steps but not over a long walk for it can become excruciating. This gave rise to the common saying “a small stone in the shoe,” a metaphorical expression for a small, persistent problem that hinders progress.

This is how Patrick Ronas, president of the Association of International Shipping Lines, Inc. (AISL), portrayed the harbor pilotage services problem — one of other issues his association members are soliciting for legislative relief.

Together with the other pressing problems plaguing the business and operation of AISL, Ronas gave the members and guests of the Monday Circle a front-row seat presentation about these issues in the bimonthly meeting of the group last Monday, March 23.  

The AISL is the primary organization representing foreign container liners operating in the Philippines, which was founded in 1963. It acts as the industry voice for 36 global shipping lines, focusing on port efficiency, regulatory compliance, and liaising between international shipping lines and local stakeholders, including port operators and government agencies, like the Bureau of Customs, to ensure smooth maritime operations.

The association also addresses industry concerns, such as high yard utilization, logistics efficiency, and policy changes affecting foreign vessel operations. It also provides training on international best practices, participates in policy formulation, and works to improve the competitiveness of Philippine shipping. Conversely, this activity of AISL focuses on fostering collaboration within the maritime industry and supporting sustainable, efficient trade practices.

Abuses in compulsory pilotage

In the Philippines, the primary legal basis for the compulsory pilotage of foreign vessels is Executive Order (EO) No. 1088 of 1986.  

The rationale behind the EO was to ensure the safe and efficient movement of especially large foreign vessels within harbor districts in the archipelago by making use of local marine pilots considering their knowledge and familiarity with our underwater landscape. For this reason, the pilotage service for foreign vessels was granted exclusively to local harbor pilots.  

But what started as a good policy to ensure safety and efficiency within harbor districts for foreign vessels, the compulsory and exclusive use of local harbor pilots has led to convoluted problems starting with the issues on exorbitant pilotage services fees and rise of an old-boys-club type of monopoly in particular harbor districts by aging harbor pilots that is denying younger and equally competent hands.

According to Ronas, the pay scale for harbor pilots has gone up  compared to even Singapore. For instance, the compensation for a harbor pilot in Iloilo has gone up to as much as P3 million a year — a figure that made even some of the highly productive members and guests of the Monday Circle to silently question if they are in the wrong career because, to most of them, their professional skills have not ordinarily commanded such pay scale. The establishment of a union for harbor pilots has further complicated the matter. 

Currently, alongside other shipping groups, the AISL has raised several significant complaints against what they describe as “persistent irregularities” that increase the financial burden on international stakeholders. For instance, the AISL finds it irritating that harbor pilots continue to impose fees not sanctioned by Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) regulations. Members are also allegedly forced or imposed charges for tugboat services even when not strictly necessary or officially required. Worse, fees are charged for navigating “channels” in ports where no such channels have been officially declared by the PPA.

One that also literally fit as “a stone in the shoe” for AISL members is the interpretation of the “Per Maneuver” fees. There is this long-standing legal dispute over this matter. AISL has historically argued that the fees should cover the entire package of services rendered from arrival to departure involving docking, undocking, and shifting, which at the moment is divided individually into separate services.

However, recent rulings and PPA Administrative Order No. 009-2025 have moved toward affirming that premiums and fees apply to every pilotage movement.  

Again, AISL has raised concerns over harbor pilots who also have financial stakes in tugboat companies, leading to biased service requirements. It is also equally concerned with the delays in service and a lack of reliable pilot availability, which disrupts tight port schedules.

AISL and its members have also frequently refused to pay additional premium fees for services rendered during nighttime, Sundays, or holidays, arguing that EO 1088’s standardized rates should have repealed these older extra charges.

Legislative remedy

In this connection, the AISL has taken the legislative route to address these issues, considering that the Supreme Court has characterized EO 1088 as a form of a “legislative act” because “fixing rates is typically a legislative function.”  

Strongly endorsed by Ronas and its AISL members is House Bill No. 5485 with the title “An Act Regulating the Pilotage Services in the Philippines and Other Purposes,” authored by Quezon City 3rd District Representative Franz S. Pumaren, who is at the same time, the chairman of the committee on transportation of the House of Representatives. The measure is also known as the “Open Harbor Pilotage Services Act,” principally to “establish a Pilotage Board and regulate the industry.”

The bill underscores that pilotage services are not merely operational functions, but public services imbued with public interest, given their critical role in ensuring navigational safety, protecting lives and property, and enabling the smooth flow of maritime commerce.

In his explanatory note, Congressman Pumaren reiterated the “unique and influential” role in port operations of harbor pilots due to their intimate knowledge of local waters and port conditions. At the same time, he underscored the need to established a centralized regulatory framework, in the absence of which has “allowed unchecked practices to emerge, such as excessive charges and service delays to conflicts of interest, particularly where pilots or pilotage organizations have stakes in tugboat operations” 

He added, that “these practices do not only disrupt port operations, they inflate the cost of doing business and ultimately affect the prices of goods and services that reach the public, highlighting the broader economic implications of an unregulated pilotage environment.”

Ronas and his AISL members are pinning their hopes on this piece of legislation, as the way to remove the proverbial small stone in the shoe of the industry that has affected port efficiency, transparency, and public accountability. – Rappler.com