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SUBIC
BAY FREEPORT—Despite some concerns about territory and
jurisdiction, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA)
and local government units (LGUs) around the Subic
Freeport Zone agree that more economic benefits could be
had by local communities when the free port’s tax- and
duty-free regime is expanded under a recent order from
Malacañang.
SBMA
Administrator Armand Arreza said officials of the SBMA
and neighboring LGUs vowed last week to work closely
together to pursue more economic opportunities and bring
development “beyond the boundaries” of this growing
economic zone.
This
came about after President Arroyo issued early this
month Executive Order 675, which effectively expanded
the area where tax- and duty-free privileges for
free-port zones would apply.
“We all
saw that the best course for us is to coordinate and
cooperate for the common good,” said Arreza, referring
to his informal meeting with Bataan Gov. Enrique
Garcia, Olongapo Mayor James Gordon Jr., Olongapo Vice
Mayor Cynthia Cajudo, Castillejos (Zambales) Mayor Wilma
Billman and San Marcelino (Zambales) Mayor Joker
Rodriguez, during a program honoring Subic’s LGU
stakeholders.
“We
acknowledged both the challenges and opportunities that
EO 675 brings us, and we concluded that we should
synergize, lest we all stagnate—which is, of course, not
a valid option as far as everyone is concerned,” he
added.
Under EO
675, signed by President Arroyo on November 5, 2007, the
tax- and duty-free privilege within the Subic Special
Economic and Free Port Zone (SSEFPZ) “shall apply within
the secured area consisting of the presently fenced-in
former Subic Naval Base and such other areas that may be
identified, fenced, secured or declared as additional
secured area by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.”
Accordingly, business enterprises and individuals, both
Filipino and foreign, who are residing within the
secured areas would be free to import raw materials,
capital goods, equipment and consumer items tax- and
duty-free.
The EO
was issued purposely to “entice more local and foreign
investors to set up businesses within the SSEFPZ,”
Malacañang said.
In the
same meeting, SBMA records showed, the LGU officials
expressed their satisfaction over SBMA’s economic
performance in the past 15 years, and recalled how the
SBMA brought about the “Subic miracle” after the US Navy
withdrew from its former military outpost in 1992.
“If it
seemed the end of the world for many when the Philippine
Senate did not ratify the RP-US military agreement, many
could see today that those fears were really unfounded,”
said Governor Garcia. “As you can see, the social and
economic development happening in the Subic free port
are now filtering out into the surrounding communities,”
he added.
This
observation was shared by Cajudo, Rodriguez and Billman,
with the latter recalling how her family “panicked” over
the impending bases pullout. She said her uncertainties
“soon turned into amazement as we saw how the newly
created free port grew into a bustling economic zone.”
The
municipality of Subic, which was not represented in the
meeting, however, had expressed concern over the
possible effects of EO 675 on its plan to develop its
own economic zone.
“Of
course, we welcome EO 675 because it will maximize the
tax- and duty-free privileges of the Subic Freeport Zone
so that more investments would come into the zone,” said
Subic municipal secretary Dick Otero.
“But we
are concerned that if the Subic free port’s secured area
were extended to include parts of Subic town, then that
portion will be under the SBMA and not the municipality
of Subic,” Otero said in an interview.
Otero
said the
municipality of
Subic
will develop some 600 hectares of land, which had been
set aside by the Zambales provincial government for the
planned Zambales Port Development Project.
The
planned ecozone is located at the Redondo Peninsula,
near the Hanjin shipyard project site, under SBMA
jurisdiction. |
