SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – A Chinese firm will develop a techno-industrial facility here which is expected to generate thousands of employment opportunities.

Hermosa, Bataan Mayor Jopet Inton on Friday joined Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma Eisma, CHMC Chairman and President Xiao Ping and Vice President Zhang Fei in a simple Memorandum of Agreement signing ceremony at the SBMA Administration Building Board Room.

Photo credit: SINOMACH.com.cn

SBMA PDO Manager Vicente Evidente Jr. witnessed the MOA signing.

Inton said the techno-industrial zone park will be built by CHMC at the Expanded Area of Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

“This will generate thousands of employment opportunities for our local communities and will provide greater economic activities,” Inton pointed out.

To accommodate more investors, then-President now Speaker, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Executive Order 675 in November 2007, thus authorizing the SBMA to declare areas outside the former US Naval Base as “additional secured areas” that may be operated as special economic and Freeport zone under its supervision.

Established in 1980 as a subordinate to China National Machinery Industry Corporation (SINOMACH), CHMC contracts engineering projects and provides trade service, capital operation and technical solutions, including metallurgy, mines, transportation, building materials, power, hydraulics, environmental protection, chemistry, agricultural products storage and processing services, among others.

Certified by China’s Ministry of Commerce as an international project contractor and A-level equipment supervisor, CHMC sets up normative safety management systems on project quality, environmental protection and vocational health, all with authentication by ISO19001, ISO14001 and OHSSAS18001.

CHMC has offices in Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Tajikistan, Indonesia, Turkey, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Kenya and Guinea.

source: news.mb.com.ph

Continue Reading

President Rodrigo on Saturday visited the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Escort Flotilla Four at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Olongapo City.

The fleet arrives at the at the Alava Wharf in Subic Bay on September 1 for a five-day goodwill visit to the country.

President Rodrigo Duterte is accompanied by Japan’s Naval officials as he is accorded with foyer honors upon his arrival at the JS KAGA(DDH-184), one of Japan’s largest Military ship. pic.twitter.com/rVEz3t7TQA

— JP Soriano (@jpsoriano) Setyembre 1, 2018

Duterte is accompanied by Japan’s Naval officials as he is accorded with foyer honors upon his arrival at the JS KAGA(DDH-184), one of Japan’s largest Military ship, a tweet by GMA News’ JP Soriano.

President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to tour the visiting Japanese Naval Ships from Japan’s Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) here at the SBMA port. pic.twitter.com/pqS67pqpI8

— JP Soriano (@jpsoriano) Setyembre 1, 2018

The JMSDF’s Escort Flotilla Four is comprised of helicopter carrier Japanese Ship (JS) Kaga (DDH-184) with five SH-6OK patrol helicopters, an Azuki-class destroyer JS Suzutsuki (DD-117), a Murasame-class destroyer JS Inazuma (DD-105), and more or less 850 officers and crew.

According to Navy spokesperson Commander Jonathan Zata, the port visit of the JMSDF Escort Division 4 will be part of the normal port calls aimed to engage personnel to naval exercises. —Ted Cordero/LBG, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Continue Reading

Photo credit: subicnewslink.blogspot.com

Subic Bay Freeport?Youths here are being urged to become active partners in community development.

“Start with yourself. Learn to lead others. Take action in your community problems. You are the solution,” said Jason Gavina, Corporate Social Responsibility Officer for Redondo Peninsula Energy, on his talk on youth leadership in the first Barangay Cawag, Subic youth assembly.

RP Energy was invited to take part in the first-ever Katipunan ng Kabataan gathering organized by the Sangguniang Kabataan of Cawag held at Nagyantok Daycare Center on Sunday.
Gavina shared how young people participated in RP Energy’s corporate social responsibility programs.

“From volunteering in our Protect the Bay Clean Up Drives, to implementing the Basura Palit Gamit Eskwela program in their school, to upcycling materials, youths are integral part of our community development.”
Aldrian Marzan, former intern at RP Energy, shared how he led KinaBOOKasan, a book drive for remote sitios in Cawag using social media. Butch Gunio

“You don’t need a lot of money to help. What I learned with RP Energy is that you just need to be resourceful, to listen well, and to be passionate about helping others,” said the college senior at Gordon College.
Cawag SK Chairperson Cherilyn Jane Inoc thanked their partners. “We are very grateful for the lessons and inspirations you shared as I always remind my young peers to truly become the hope of the nation,” she said.

The youth assembly was also participated by ThrivePH, Olongapo non-profit PREDA Foundation, and the Philippine National Police.

RP Energy is the developer of a 2×300 megawatt coal-fired power plant in Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

source: manilastandard.net

Continue Reading

JS Kaga (DDH 184) / Photo from JMSDF

Japan’s helicopter carrier is heading to the Philippines for a five-day port visit this weekend, as part of its two-month tour around the South China Sea and Indian Ocean.

Japan Maritime Self Defense Force’s Escort Flotilla Four — JS Kaga (DDH 184), Japan’s largest warship, will be escorted by Akizuki-class destroyer JS Suzutsuki (DD-117) and Murasame-class destroyer JS Inazuma (DD-105) — will arrive on Saturday at Alava Wharf in Subic Bay, an advisory from the Philippine Navy said.

The Navy will welcome about 850 officers and crew.

The warship is also scheduled to visit in India, Indonesia, Singapore, and Sri Lanka as part of its Indo-Pacific deployment.

While it was not directly referred to as a patrol mission, the JMSDF earlier said it hopes to contribute to the “peace and stability” in the region.

Its sister ship, helicopter carrier JS Izumo, also visited the Philippines last year as part of its tour around the South China Sea, seen as Japan’s biggest display of naval power in foreign waters in decades.

President Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to visit the warship on Saturday afternoon, said Navy spokesperson Cmdr. Jonathan Zata.

source: globalnation.inquirer.net

Continue Reading

If being the first-ever freeport in the Philippines wasn’t enough of an accolade, Subic Bay — this bustling economic zone and one of the premier economic zones in the country — has its fair share of trailblazing feats in recent years.

SBMA has turned Subic Bay into a self-sustainable area that promotes the industrial, commercial, investment, and financial areas of trade in the zone as well as in the Philippines.

From sustaining robust economic growth and leading the way for port-related activities to having its first female chairwoman and administrator, Subic Bay sets the benchmark for all other freeports to equal.

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, the primary institution responsible for the development of the Subic Bay Freeport and the Special Economic Zone, will be celebrating 26 years of prolific growth since its inception in 1992 with the founding chairman and administrator Richard “Dick” Gordon, now a senator, at the helm. Now, it’s enjoying the unwavering service of the men and women behind the government-owned and controlled corporation.

SBMA has turned Subic Bay into a self-sustainable area that promotes the industrial, commercial, investment, and financial areas of trade in the zone as well as in the Philippines. It is currently headed by Atty. Wilma T. Eisma, former Public Affairs and Contributions manager of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Company Inc., as Chairman and Administrator.

The SBMA is the operating and implementing arm of the Government of the Philippines for the development of the 262 square miles (670 square kilometers) area of Subic Bay Freeport (SBF) into a self-sustaining tourism, industrial, commercial, financial, and investment center to generate employment opportunities for Filipinos. This area was the former American naval facility in Subic Bay.

On March 13, 1992, the Philippine Congress passed Republic Act 7227, known as the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992, in anticipation of the pullout of the United States from its military bases in the country. Section 13 of RA 7227 created the SBMA to develop and manage the Freeport, which provides tax and duty-free privileges and incentives to business locators in the special economic zone.

Gordon, then the mayor of the City of Olongapo, became the first SBMA chairman. The mayor, with 8,000 volunteers, took over the facility to preserve and protect US$8 billion worth of property and facilities when the last US Navy helicopter carrier USS Belleau Wood sailed out of Subic Bay on November 24, 1992. That started the conversion of the military base into a free port like Hong Kong and Singapore.

Its mission is to “grow the Freeport to be an environmentally sustainable community where locators are ahead of their competitors and our stakeholders enjoy the highest quality of life,” while its vision for the future is to be the leading Eco-Urban Freeport in Southeast Asia.

Apart from enticing international locators to Philippine shores, Subic has positioned itself as a premier destination — not only as an investment hub, but as a burgeoning amalgam of industries such as leisure and sports, hotels and tourism, and other recreational activities that fall under their scope in tagging Subic Bay as a place to live, work, and play.

With the ascent SBMA has achieved in only a short span of time, it’s hard not to believe that all of this is not achievable — and greater things are in tow for this Freeport for the next 26 years and more.

source: manilastandard.net

Continue Reading