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Massive
infrastructure development in two of the country’s
regional centers has signaled the dawning and births of
new economic growth corridors and is seen by many to
become the focal point of the Philippines’ turnaround
within the next 10 years. The synergy of various
development-oriented infrastructure projects, such as the
creation of world-class seaports, airports and modern
expressways, industrial and residential enclaves,
including tourism and leisure developments, is key to that
quest.
Experts
even predict that, in no time, Mega Manila will soon
become less significant once all these necessary
infrastructures are in place, such as the ones currently
being pursued in
Central Luzon and Visayas regions.
These two
regions, aside from their strategic locations (Central
Luzon being at the center of Luzon Island and its
proximity to Metro Manila and Cebu City, which is at the
center of trade and commerce in the Visayan region) both
enjoy ready infrastructures (natural and man-made).
THE Subic-Clark-Tarlac
Expressway: seen to create the backbone of a new economic
growth corridor, which in time will be more significant
than Metro Manila. -- JACOB
CUNANAN
Central
Luzon, which played host to two of the largest US military
installations outside of continental United States—Subic
Naval Base and Clark Air Force Base—has an almost built-in
facility that could easily be converted into a major
economic growth centers.
Construction and development have boomed in Tarlac,
Pampanga and Zambales since almost four years ago
following the implementation of major infrastructure
projects, more particularly the 92-km Subic-Clark-Tarlac
Expressway (SCTEx) project, the Subic Bay Seaport and
other infra-related projects within the region.
These
multibillion-peso road and seaport projects alone have
trickled down to local economies in the provinces of
Tarlac, Pampanga, Bataan and Zambales.
Millions
of tons of gravel and sand, including lahar materials,
were used in the construction of the expressway and
seaport. These two major construction projects were both
financed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).
These materials were sourced out within and around these
provinces.
AN
inbound container ship dwarfs a pleasure craft in the
waters of Subic Bay.
--HENRY EMPEŃO
A total of
P22.63 billion was spent for the construction of the SCTEx
project, while the Subic seaport was granted by the Japan
Bank a total of P11 billion. Out of the P33-billion budget
for the two projects, more than half is spent for filling
and aggregate materials sourced within the region’s three
provinces.
The
region’s populace for the first time became the largest
beneficiary in terms of employment and business. And this
is just the beginning.
With the
recent completion of both the seaport and the expressway,
and the preparation currently being undertaken in Clark
for its airport to become a major international passenger
and logistics hub, Central Luzon appeared to be ready to
create a more progressive and synergetic stance aimed at
propelling the country to, at the very least, compete in
the fast-rising global economy.
Subic-Clark
Alliance for
Development (SCAD)
Not until
recently, Subic and Clark used to operate as separate and
distinct economic enclaves. Two former US military bases
were converted for commercial use and tagged as “economic
zones,” enjoying a head-start over other areas and with
$15 billion worth of facilities left behind by the
American Naval and Air Forces.
With a
mindset of leasing their respective lands to possible
investors, both Subic and Clark administrations have, in
the past, even fiercely competed against each other.
Credit the
most recent past leaderships in
Subic and
Clark and that of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA),
since they have all agreed and pursued the idea of
complementation as they all saw the wisdom of integration
to address their respective strengths and weaknesses.
SCAD
became the main guiding principle behind the
complementation of the two economic zones. The imperatives
of the new economic order have further driven the entire
Central Luzon region to improve and redefine their
existence and contribution to the country’s economic
thrust as they create a new economic frontier anchored on
infrastructure, logistics and manpower resource.
The SCTEx
serves as the backbone of the new economic corridor in
Central Luzon. Subic’s natural harbor and deep water were
projected to further develop a modern container facility
as it hopes to take its share of the ever-increasing
regional and global container cargo market.
Clark now
enjoys a direct link to the Subic seaport, as travel time
between the two facilities has been reduced to only 30
minutes through an efficient 55-km access roadway. In the
same manner,
Subic will have the same benefit as it hopes to utilize
Clark’s
logistics hub and international airfreight and
passenger-airport service at less travel time.
Central
Luzon’s agricultural produce, including other products and
services, will start to enjoy the benefits of having an
efficient access road and world-class sea and airport
facilities.
Tourism
potentials boosted
Access,
which is key to tourism business, is further boosted with
the opening of the new expressway. Travel time from Manila
to Zambales and Bataan is reduced to almost half the time.
While motorists going to northern parts of Luzon,
particularly Baguio and Pangasinan, now save almost an
hour-and-a-half, passing through the
Clark-to-Tarlac
segment of the expressway.
SCTEx
project manager Robert Gervacio said that “by providing a
fast and convenient access to both Subic and Clark from
all the major points in Luzon, including Metro Manila and
Baguio, more travelers will be encouraged to visit Central
Luzon, because there are now more entertainment choices
and alternatives.
“Visitors
who wish to stay in
Subic, for
example, can take a 45-minute trip via the SCTEx to events
in Angeles City and return the same day. Those who are
staying in the
Clark area, on
the other hand, can always go to resorts in Zambales and
be back in their hotels the same day without much hassle,”
Gervacio said.
The BCDA
official also noted that tourists from Northern Luzon
provinces such as La Union and Pangasinan can now visit
Central Luzon more frequently because of the shorter travel time and
excellent road conditions.
Cebu City: The Other Central
The Queen
City of the South through the years has been the center of
trade and commerce, including tourism-oriented businesses.
Being
located in the Central Visayan region,
Cebu has become a model of development and has been consistently
included on the country’s top list as most competitive
city and remains as the fastest-growing city.
Unlike
Subic and Clark, Cebu has been a major economic center and
has maintained its tag as the regional economic hub of
Central Visayas.
And in
recent years, property developments including public
infrastructure have been in the works. In fact, its local
leaders and business groups in the province consider Cebu
“still as a work in progress.”
At the
moment, South Road Properties (SRP), the city’s version of
creating a new economic frontier in their midst, however,
still faces rough-sailing though.
Aimed at
creating new industrial and commercial zones outside of
the overly crowded central business district of Cebu, the
SRP is a landmark project for Cebu. Similar to Subic and
Clark development, its funding also came from the Japan
Bank of International Cooperation in 1992 as part of the
city’s Metro Cebu Development Project 2 Package.
But in
spite of the hitches and problems besetting the SRP
project, Cebu’s real-estate-related projects, mostly
leisure and residential development projects, are still in
full swing.
Construction of buildings for call centers and BPOs has
continued to mushroom in the city during the last three
years. Residential condominium projects and leisure
resorts and hotels have been on the rise despite the
limited availability of open areas within the city limits.
Outside of
Mega Manila, Cebu has sustained its economic viability and
independence owing to the fact that it has created for
itself the necessary infrastructure such as seaport,
international airport, a tourism hub (Mactan island) and
industrial centers.
In the
final analysis, regional developments are now ripe for the
country to reposition itself in the global economy and
hope to compete in the global markets with the emergence
of new economic frontiers. | 
