[MANILA] Cargo containers filled with goods from toys to electronics are piling up on Manila's docks as a rush-hour truck ban threatens to dent growth in the Philippines, South-east Asia's fastest-expanding economy.

Incoming cargo boxes have lingered at International Container Terminal Services Inc's (ICTSI) 100-hectare port facility an average of 10 days - up from the usual six - since mayor Joseph Estrada declared the ban in February, Christian Gonzalez, the company's regional head, said. The port, which can't be accessed without going through Manila's roads, handles more than half of the nation's overseas freight.

While the ban was intended to ease chronic gridlock in the heart of a region of almost 23 million people, the shipping backlogs have become so severe they are being called a drag on the country's growth. The former American colony saw its debt rating raised to investment grade last year after decades of corruption, political upheaval and lacklustre growth that led to it once being dubbed the "sick man of Asia".