Press Release
July 22, 2015

Trillanes hails the passage of Cabotage Law

Senator Antonio "Sonny" F. Trillanes IV commends President Benigno S. Aquino III for signing Senate Bill No. 2486 into law, now known as Republic No. 10668 or the amended Cabotage Law.

According to Trillanes, principal author of the measure in the Senate, the passage of RA 10668 will definitely boost our economy, particularly the cargo shipping industry, as this will foster greater competition in the industry and lower the cost of transporting goods in the country.

The new law permits foreign shipping lines to dock at different Philippine ports and allows importers and exporters to co-load containers and cargoes in foreign ships going in and out of the country.

Trillanes added, "We are expecting that port congestion in Manila will be eased due to faster business transactions caused by the law, which is also taking full advantage of the country's archipelagic feature and making Philippines a competent strategic location in the ASEAN market."

During President Aquino's 2013 State of the Nation Address, he called on the Congress to amend the existing Cabotage law, a remnant of the Jones Law of 1920 when the country was still a colony of the United States of America, which prohibits foreign carriers from engaging in domestic trade.

Trillanes previously lamented that this limitation gave rise to a virtual monopoly in the local cargo shipping industry, which resulted to higher cost of transporting goods.

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