From Movers of Goods to Makers for the World: Building Logistics for Exports

If the Philippines is to win in exports, our logistics must be designed not only to distribute products domestically but also to produce, clear, and deliver to customers abroad—faster, cheaper, and more predictably than our competitors in the region and the world. We have momentum: In the World Bank’s 2023 Logistics Performance Index (LPI), the Philippines rose to 43rd out of 139 economies, demonstrating that persistent reforms and digital tools are making a difference.

What “export-grade” logistics really means

Exporters compete on minutes and millimeters. They need:

1. predictable border clearance with trusted-trader lanes;
2. right-sized gateways near factories so trucks spend less time on the road;
3. specialized chains—cold storage for food, good practice in pharmaceuticals, careful handling for electronics—that protect quality and traceability; and
   4. a workforce fluent in trade terms, rules of origin, digital documents, and quality systems.

Several building blocks are in place. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) already applies to the Philippines, expanding our market access while raising the bar on compliance and reliability. Our Bureau of Customs operates a “trusted trader” pathway called the Authorized Economic Operator program, which allows more exporters to qualify, enabling their shipments to pass with fewer inspections and quicker release. The government’s “National Single Window,” publicly known as TradeNet, links with the ASEAN Single Window to exchange permits and certificates electronically, thereby eliminating paper, reducing time, and minimizing errors in export documentation.

Gateway capacity is also improving. International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) plans to build a new international terminal in Bauan, Batangas, bringing the port closer to South Luzon’s manufacturing sector. ICTSI is also upgrading Subic to enhance capacity and reliability for the north. These moves shorten truck hauls, add berth capacity, and attract more direct calls. For food and life science exporters, the Cold Chain Industry Roadmap establishes standards and provides a roadmap for expanding capacity—essential for maintaining quality and shelf life.

Put the skills framework at the center

A few years ago, the Department of Trade and Industry, along with its partners, launched the Philippine Skills Framework for Supply Chain and Logistics. It is a standard, industry-validated map of roles, competencies, and career paths that employers, schools, and workers can use to plan hiring, curricula, and upskilling. In other words, it translates “export-grade” into job descriptions and skills you can train and assess.

To pivot from domestic distribution to export performance:

• Name the export-critical roles and train for them.These include export documentation specialists, compliance officers for trusted-trader programs, analysts for rules of origin, quality controllers in cold chains, yard planners at ports, and coordinators who manage data flows between factories, trucks, and vessels. All of these can be mapped to the skills framework, allowing hiring and promotion to be based on recognized competencies.

• Tie national qualifications to export roles.The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority already maintains training regulations for warehousing and related logistics jobs. Ladder those credentials into short, stackable modules on digital trade documents, certificates of origin, and cold-chain quality—so a warehousing graduate sees a clear bridge to an export desk or a quality-assurance role.

• Make digital documentation a core skill.Train people on TradeNet workflows, pre-arrival processing, and data quality checks. In export logistics, insufficient data is a bottleneck.

The “Tatak Pinoy” boost

The Tatak Pinoy (Proudly Filipino) Act, signed on 26 February 2024, is the accelerator we have been waiting for. It mandates a multi-year national strategy, establishes a council chaired by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), aligns with the Philippine Development Plan and the country’s export plan, links directly to skills initiatives such as the Philippine Skills Framework, and requires annual public reporting. Its implementing rules have been issued, so agencies can now operationalize the law.

Here is how Tatak Pinoy turns policy into export performance:

1. People first.The law’s human-resources pillar enables the government to scale the skills framework nationwide and link it to the national employment plan—so scholarships, enterprise-based training, and school curricula all align with export jobs.

2. Investment signals.Tatak Pinoy directs the investment promotion system to prioritize projects that raise product quality and reliability—such as energy-efficient cold storage near airports and ports, or digital systems for paperless trade.

3. Government as lead customer.For a decade, agencies must give preference to products and services covered by the strategy, helping local suppliers of packaging, testing, and logistics services reach export-grade standards.

4. With required progress reports, the government can publish corridor-by-corridor results that matter to exporters.

Five export multipliers to launch within twelve months

1. A “trusted talent” compact.Enlist the first 200 exporters—in electronics, auto parts, garments, and agrifood sectors—in a compact that pairs participation in the trusted-trader program with skills framework training. Customs sets a target (for example, a large majority of their consignments are released within twenty-four hours when no red flags are present). Publish quarterly results.

2. Specialize gateways by corridor.

• South Luzon (CALABARZON):Shift more factory flows to the coming Batangas terminal to shorten truck time and support more direct calls.
• North and Central Luzon:Use Subic’s upgrades to decongest Manila and raise schedule reliability for ecozone exporters.
• Visayas and Mindanao:Apply the same “factory-to-vessel within forty-eight hours” discipline as capacities rise under the cold-chain roadmap.

3. Export-grade cold chain clusters.Co-locate pre-cooling, pack-houses, and pharmaceutical-grade storage at gateways; layer Tatak Pinoy support for energy-efficient, standards-certified facilities. This unlocks higher-value food and life-science exports.

4. Paperless by default.Prioritize the trade documents used most by exporters for live electronic exchange through the ASEAN Single Window. Aim to have the majority of shipments on priority corridors fully electronic within one year.

5. Skills for the regional trade agreement.Stand up a national “practitioners’ course” on RCEP—focused on tariff schedules, rules of origin, and documentary evidence. Prefer candidates who have completed their education when hiring or promoting logistics supervisors and export officers.

The scoreboard that convinces investors

Three public measures—reported monthly—will tell global buyers that the Philippines is serious:

• Factory-to-vessel lead time:median hours from final quality check at the plant to confirmed loading at the port, by corridor.
• Trusted-trader release time:median and 90th-percentile hours for qualified exporters, with the top reasons for exceptions.
• Digital documentation rate:share of export shipments using fully electronic documents through the national single window and the ASEAN gateway.

Celebrate corridors that hit targets. Fix bottlenecks where they are missed.

Why this will work

We rose in the LPI because agencies and industry digitalized and coordinated. The same formula—now aimed at export bottlenecks—will convert our expanding market access and manufacturing base into dependable on-time performance. Port investments in Batangas and Subic reduce trucking time and diversify risk; paperless trade cuts friction; trusted-trader lanes focus inspections where risk is real; and a skills framework ensures our people can deliver to world standards.

When we align on standards, measure what matters, and reward real skills, Filipino workers and firms deliver. With Tatak Pinoy supplying strategy and incentives, the skills framework supplying the talent blueprint, TradeNet and the ASEAN platform supplying speed and predictability, and targeted gateway upgrades supplying reliability—we can move more Philippine-made products to more markets at better margins, making logistics a genuine engine of shared prosperity.

[Alfredo E. Pascual is an Independent Director at BDO Unibank Inc. and a Regent at the University of the Philippines (UP) System. He served as Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), President of UP, Director of Private Sector Operations at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), President of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), President & CEO of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), and Finance Professor at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).]