Subic Bay Freeport—The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority is pressing for the expansion of Subic Bay Freeport boundaries with vigorous legislative help from its first chief executive, Senator Richard Gordon.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said that Gordon, who was SBMA chairman from 1992 to 1998, had filed Senate Bill 2207 to expand the area of the Subic Bay Freeport, as well as that of the neighboring Clark Freeport.

Under the proposed measure, some parts of Zambales and Bataan provinces, along with areas in Olongapo City, will be made an adjunct of the Subic Bay Freeport under a phased expansion program.

Eisma said that in consultation with neighboring local government units last year, the SBMA has received pledges of about 21,000 hectares of expansion areas for future investment projects.

These included 9,000 hectares in San Antonio; 10,000 hectares in San Marcelino; 600 hectares in Subic; 500 hectares in Castillejos; and 900 hectares in Olongapo City, all in Zambales; as well as 505 hectares in Hermosa, Bataan.

“We want these areas to be utilized as economic zones because we’re already running out of space in the Subic Bay Freeport,” Eisma said.

The proposed expansion, she added, “will sustain the growth of the Subic Freeport, attract more investments, and generate jobs for residents from nearby communities and other areas.”

In filing the bill, Gordon said that there was a need to update Republic Act 7227 or the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992, to further strengthen the free ports.

He said that once enacted, the proposed measure will also give the expanded territories the same tax incentives as those in Subic Freeport and Clark Freeport so that they can attract investments projects.

Senate Bill 2207 also seeks to increase the area of the Clark Special Economic Zone from the current 4,400 hectares to 35,400 hectares and mandates Subic and Clark authorities to frame a master plan for the phased expansion.
Source: manilastandard.net

Continue Reading

Japan’s National Space Policy Secretariat has introduced its high-tech satellite system designed to improve stability and accuracy of navigation services during a workshop organized in partnership with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), launched November 2018 in Japan, covers wide areas of the Asia-Pacific Region with ICT-Construction as a promising area of utilization.

During the workshop, representatives from Japanese firms Kokusai Kogyo Co., Topcon Corporation, and SITECH Japan showed the different applications of the QZSS to ICT-Construction, like 3D reconstruction and measurement, automation of construction work, and operation management of heavy equipment.

“During the term of President Rodrigo Duterte, we are witnessing the rapid development in Clark. If there was a place in the country to pilot the technology brought to us by our Japanese partners, I think this place is Clark,” BCDA President and CEO Vince Dizon said.

Several infrastructure projects are lined up for Clark under the administration’s Build Build Build program including the construction of New Clark City and the expansion of the Clark International Airport.

Phase 1A of the New Clark City National Government Administrative Center involves the construction of government buildings and world-class sports facilities to be used for the upcoming South East Asian Games. The new Clark International Airport terminal meanwhile is scheduled to be completed by June 2020.

Source: THE BCDA GROUP FB Page

Continue Reading

Photo Credit: waytogo.cebupacificair.com
CLARK FREEPORT ZONE, Pampanga — The gross revenues of the Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) reached an unprecedented PHP1.07 billion in 2018, an official of the government-run corporation said Tuesday.

Jaime Alberto Melo, CIAC president, said this is the first time that CIAC was able to breach the PHP1-billion mark since the agency was created in 1995.

“Numbers of airlines, flights, destinations and business activities increased ever since President Rodrigo Duterte called for greater utilization of Clark Airport. The marketability of Clark Airport and the civil aviation complex were keys to achieving this milestone,” Melo said.

Melo said revenues increased by 32 percent, or the equivalent of PHP257.43 million, from last year’s PHP814.115, while CIAC’s net income also posted an unprecedented growth of 80 percent or about PHP141.94 million.

The revenue was derived from aeronautical and non-aeronautical operations at the Clark Airport that contributed 53 percent and 43 percent, respectively.

The CIAC chief said these record-breaking figures are attributed to the Duterte administration’s full support, citing Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade – whose agency oversees the airport’s operation, and CIAC’s parent company, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), headed by its president Vivencio Dizon.

“The continuing success of Clark Airport reflects the CIAC’s pursuit of higher standards of service for Filipinos. The challenge is to still do better and serve better,” Tugade said.

Clark Airport averages around 11,500 passengers daily and registers 246 international and 480 domestic flights every week.

Last year, there were around 2.6 million travelers via Clark. The airport targets to register 4.5 million annual passengers by 2022.

Source: pna.gov.ph

Continue Reading

MANILA, Philippines — To ease congestion at the ports of Manila, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has ordered the transfer of empty containers to Batangas and Subic ports.

BOC Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero in a February 18 memorandum ordered port/district collectors at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) as well as the ports of Batangas, Manila, and Subic to implement Executive Order (EO) No. 172 issued in 2014, which declared the Port of Batangas (POB) as well as the Subic Bay Freeport (SBFP) as the Port of Manila’s (POM) extensions when it gets congested and during emergency situations.

Given the ongoing congestion at the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) and the South Harbor, Guerrero said all empty containers must be transferred to the Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) terminal in Batangas and the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) the terminal in Subic.

“The district/port collectors of POB and SBFP shall exercise authority over the containers to be transferred, while the POM and MICP district/port collectors are directed to immediately transmit all pertinent documents relative to the subject containers for immediate processing and disposal,” Guerrero said.

In January, the industry group Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) cited the return of empty containers as among their concerns at the country’s ports.

During a meeting between Guerrero and PCCI officials, the BOC chief said container yard operators were “amenable with the BOC requirement to lower and maintain their utilization rate to 70 percent.”

“ATI has already transferred empty containers to Batangas port last January 14. Sweeper vessels will also be utilized to transfer empty containers from Manila to Batangas and Subic. This would reduce the utilization rate in the Manila ports,” according to Guerrero.

The BOC had also sought the Department of Finance’s (DOF) approval of the draft Customs Administrative Order (CAO) seeking to slap additional duties and taxes to overstaying containers, he said.

Source: business.inquirer.net

Continue Reading

Photo Credit: ABS-CBN News

Clark Field, Pampanga—Sports facilities that are being constructed inside the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac are more than halfway done.

The facilities, which showcase Filipino culture and lifestyle, will be used for the coming 30th Southeast Asian Games and are expected to be finished by August.

The sports complex at the New Clark City will serve as the main hub of the Games, which will cater to 22 of the 56 sports disciplines which have been calendared.

Officials of infrastructure developer, MTD Philippines, which is the project partner of the Bases Conversion Development Authority, said the project will be done some three months of before start of the biennial meet, which will take place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.

“We are in here for the long haul (on these projects). May athletics stadium, at may aquatics center. Matatapos po ito ng June, at the latest ay July,” said New Clark City project director, admiral Jose Miguel Rodriguez during yesterday’s weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum that was held at the Mimosa Golf and Country Club.

The venues are part of a P13.6-billion project, known as Phase 1A of the New Clark City (NCC).

Other facilities that are being readied for the games are in the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan
The athletes’ village will have 2,100 beds, and will be home to athletes, officials, and volunteers for the duration of the Games.

There are plans to have them operational by Nov. 20.

The aquatics center will have an eight-lane training pool, a 10-lane competition pool and a maximum depth of five meters.

On the other hand, the track stadium will have a 400-meter standard track and nine lanes.

Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee deputy director Arrey Perez said the structures built will be the first major sports facilities to rise in the country since the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex was put up in 1934.

The designers take pride in the design of the oval, which draws inspiration from the “caldera,” or the crater of Mt. Pinatubo and the contour of the surrounding terrain of Zambales and the Sierra Madre ranges.

They used lahar as its building material and incorporated the color of lava, which is active orange, in painting the structure.

Aquatic sports will be done in the New Clark City, along with athletics.

Obstacle course sports, petanque, lawn bowls and skateboarding will be at the Clark Global City, the other venues of the Games within the NCC area are in the parade grounds, which will have archery and rugby.

Baseball and softball will be at the Villages, while dancesport is at the Royce Hotel.

Clark Field in Angeles City, Pampanga will play host to shooting, golf, jiujitsu, kurash, arnis, sambo, wrestling and wakeboarding.
Source:

Continue Reading