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Parañaque Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr. yesterday turned
over to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor)
a copy of City Resolution 08-059 endorsing the tourism
ecozone status to the development project of Pagcor
known as the Manila Bay Tourism and Entertainment City
in the reclamation area within the territorial
jurisdiction of Parañaque City.
Pagcor
president and chief executive officer Rafael “Butch”
Francisco received a copy of the resolution after a
simple ceremonial signing of the document witnessed by
members of the City Council, other ranking Pagcor
officials, and reporters who covered the event at the
mayor’s office.
Bernabe
also furnished Francisco a copy of his letter-reply to
an earlier request of Philippine Economic Zone director
general Lilia de Lima for an endorsement by the city
government of the ecozone status of the Pagcor project
to enable locators and/or investors to enjoy the
benefits and incentives available under Republic Act
7016, otherwise known as the Special Economic Zone Act
of 1995.
During
the press briefing, Mayor Bernabe said that the Manila
Bay Tourism and Entertainment City will rise on a
l50-hectare parcel of what the city has designated as a
Special Investment District (SID) out of the city’s more
than 800 hectares equity shares of the eventual total
reclaimed area.
The
project being developed by Pagcor will require an
investment from the private sector estimated at US$26
billion.
“More
than the tremendous boost that the project will provide
to the local economy, as well as add a new skyline to
the city, we expected that the project will open up
employment and livelihood opportunities to city
residents during and after the completion of the
development project. We have a city ordinance requiring
business and commercial establishments to comply with
the 40-percent local hires for their manpower needs,”
Bernabe said.
He
described the project as a self-contained city within
city which will have its own theme park, a resort,
luxury hotels, restaurants, malls, banks, a museum, a
stadium, theaters, convention and cultural centers,
gaming and amusement centers, and a residential village.
For his
part, Francisco said the entire project will take at
least five years to complete and indicated that
investors should be ready to sink in at least $1
billion, 10 percent of which should initially be
deposited in a bank.
He said
that the first such investor to come in is Eagle Land
One Holdings, which has signed up for an area of 40
hectares to develop their own project.
Francisco added that the entire project could generate
as many as 400,000 jobs nationwide due to its multiplier
effect on related or allied industries.
He
projects that the Manila Bay Tourism and Entertainment
City will be completed in five years. |
