THE House of Representatives has recently adopted a resolution expressing support for the Clark Green City Master Development Plan prepared by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).
Party-list Rep. Cinchona Cruz-Gonzales of CIBAC, chairman of the House Special Committee on Bases Conversion, said the members of the lower chamber voted unanimously to adopt House Resolution 116, urging the Executive department to support the general framework and broad features and objectives of the proposed Clark Green City Master Development Plan.
“The proposed Clark Green City, a 9,450-hectare metropolis, as announced by the state-owned BCDA, is the country’s newest and most modern city half the size of Metro Manila, set to rise within the 36,000-hectare property north of the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone [CFSEZ] main zone,” she said.
The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) has approved on August 6, 2013, the master plan for the development of 9,400 hectares of idle land within the CFSEZ as a green city. The Neda Infrastructure Committee has endorsed the master plan to President Aquino for final approval.
The Clark Green City project is expected to generate as much as P1.57 trillion in revenues every year, contribute at least a 4-percent share to the gross domestic product and employ as many as 925,000, upon full completion of the development.
A 50-year development program, the Clark Green City will cost P607 billion, of which P59 billion will be used for the first five years, coming mostly from the private sector through the Public-Private Partnership Program.
The lawmaker said the panel has created a steering committee that will address the various issues and concerns raised by the local government units pertaining to the Clark Green City Project, composed of the BCDA, Department of National Defense or Armed Forces of the Philippines, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, local government units of the provinces of Tarlac and Pampanga, and their district representatives in the House of Representatives.
“The BCDA envisions the city more modern than the Bonifacio Global in Taguig, one of the major success projects implemented by the BCDA, hosting businesses, domestic and international trade, conferences, research development entities, regional tourism centers, national government offices and international headquarters,” Cruz-Gonzales said.
She said the proposed city will play a major role in easing the pressure of development on Metro Manila and will showcase what the country can offer in terms of urban planning and sustainable development at par with the trend in building sustainable and modern cities in major countries around the world.
“Compared with Metro Manila, the CFSEZ where the Clark Green City is [situated] has low susceptibility to floodings, landslides and earthquakes,” Cruz-Gonzales said.
BCDA President and CEO Arnel Paciano Casanova, for his part, said the project will attract billions of investments, generate thousands of jobs, boost the economy and sustain inclusive growth.
The green metropolis would be a mix of industrial, institutional and commercial areas, which would apply green technologies, using renewable energy from sustainable sources by all facilities and buildings in the proposed city, a place where one’s home, place of work, and places of recreation are within walking or biking distances from each other.
“It will be a place where everyone is connected by both culture and technology with sustainability as number one priority in building the city, it is truly designed with future generations in mind,” the resolution said.
The resolution cited the BCDA, which stated that the urbanization trend in the Philippines has been faster in the last 50 years. In 1960 only 8 million Filipinos lived in urban areas and the remaining 19 million lived in rural locations.
In 2000 the BCDA said the trend has reversed with 39 million Filipinos living in cities and 37.5 million living in rural areas, and 46 million people in urban areas, a decade after.
“This means that roughly one out of two Filipinos live in a city, hence, urbanization in the Philippines is bound to continue,” the BCDA said.
The resolution also cited the BCDA stating that by 2030, some 3 out of 4 Filipinos will be living in cities. Hence BCDA believes that there is a need to build another metropolis and chose to pattern the Clark Green City to South Korea’s Songdo.
The urbanization in the Philippines, the BCDA said, has been concentrated in the National Capital Region and the provinces of Rizal, Cavite, Laguna and Bulacan, and that there is now a need to create a new metropolitan area, according to the resolution.
The BCDA is mandated under Republic Act 7227 to transform former US military bases and Metro Manila camps into alternative productive civilian uses and premier centers of economic growth in partnership with the private sector with integrity, excellence and stewardship of government resources.
In Photo: Artist’s rendering of the Clark Green City.