SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is pursuing a regular schedule for the processing of passports in the Freeport in order to serve residents of the Subic Bay area and nearby communities.

SBMA Chairperson and Administrator Wilma Eisma said she has requested the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to conduct passport processing here at least twice a year and, later on, to establish full consular services at the Subic Bay Freeport.

“The plan is to start with a passport issuance office, which will evolve into a consular affairs office,” Eisma said in a media briefing on Monday.

The SBMA official made this announcement after the successful conduct of a mobile passport processing activity at the Ayala Harbor Point Mall here on January 13, where some 700 passport applications were processed by visiting DFA personnel.

The project was spearheaded by the DFA and SBMA, with the DFA contingent led by Office of the Consular Affairs Regional Center Chief Bayani Sibug and the SBMA technical working group headed by SBMA Office Services Department chief Gerardo Hermoso, Jr.

“We received an overwhelming number of requests from residents for another passport processing project, as a lot of residents were disappointed to find out that no walk-in applicants were entertained,” Eisma said. “So we would try to make this a regular project for the benefit of local residents.”

Hermoso said the passport processing project was, at first, intended for SBMA employees only, as part of the agency’s 25th founding anniversary program. The applications processed on January 13 were actually filed for pre-qualification last October.

However, the project was later on extended to include immediate family members of SBMA employees to fill the 750 slots given by the DFA, until it was opened to walk-in applicants during the final acceptance of requirements last year.

The applications and requirements accepted by the SBMA TWG were sent to the DFA office in Manila for verification to hasten processing time when they come here for the personal appearance of applicants and the data-capturing phase of the processing, Hermoso explained.

Eisma, however, assured Subic Bay residents that the SBMA is now coordinating with the DFA for the next application processing project.

“Hopefully, we will have another one by the fourth quarter and that will be a regular event,” she said.

“This will be among our corporate social responsibility projects to help residents of neighboring towns, as well as assist the DFA in their mission to promote and protect Philippine interests in the global community,” Eisma further said.

In August last year, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 10928, which extended the validity of Philippine passports, by amending the Philippine Passport Act of 1996.

Chairman Eisma said the Subic agency will announce the schedule of the next mobile passport processing project via its radio station Subic Bay radio 89.5-FM, as well as social media and other platforms for public announcement. (Ric Sapnu/SunStar Pampanga)

source: www.sunstar.com.ph

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Members of an Aeta family from Zambales province join environmental and other groups in filing a petition in the Court of Appeals in Manila against the construction of a coal-fired power plant in Subic Bay Freeport. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

A fresh round of protests was launched on Tuesday to stop the construction of a 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant in the Subic Bay Freeport.

Members of environmental groups from Zambales province and residents of Olongapo City marched in a “solidarity walk” along Manila streets before filing a petition in the Court of Appeals (CA) to stop the project of Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. (RP Energy).

RP Energy is a consortium composed of the Manila Electric Co., the Aboitiz Group of Companies and Taiwan Cogen Inc.

Around 200 marchers, who belong to Save Subic Bay: No
to Coal Stakeholders Coalition, walked from the University of the Philippines Manila campus to the CA. They were joined by members of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ).

The lawsuit against RP Energy, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), and the Department of Transportation was filed by the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber for Health and Environment Conservation (SBFCHEC) led by its president, Jen Velarmino-Van Der Heijde.

Smokestack

Joining the petition were Olongapo City Vice Mayor Aquilino Yorac-Cortez Jr.; 19 residents of Olongapo, Subic and nearby towns of Bataan and Zambales provinces; and PMCJ represented by lawyer and Sanlakas secretary general Jose Aaron Pedrosa Jr.

The petitioners invoked what they described as “the imperative need to rectify the breach of statutory responsibilities of the Department of Transportation and the CAAP under the domestic and international aviation standards.”

They claimed the CAAP issued a height clearance permit allowing RP Energy to erect
a 144-meter dual smokestack for the power plant, atop a 10.68-meter elevated area.

They asked the appeals court to issue a temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction to stop the construction, cancel RP Energy’s height clearance permit, and to provide them with copies of all CAAP documents regarding the project.

The petitioners said RP Energy’s presentation of the project showed the smokestack alone would be 150 meters high, so the total height would be 160.68 meters, way above the 150-meter limitation set by the CAAP for areas around the Subic Bay International Airport.

The Inquirer on Tuesday tried to reach Jason Gavina, corporate social responsibility officer of the RP Energy office at Subic Bay Freeport, for a statement, but he did not take calls. He also did not reply to text messages.

Permit

RP Energy began initial construction despite its failure to secure the necessary construction permit from the building permit and safety department of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), the petitioners said.

“The proposed coal plant project will hamper the growth of Subic and nearby areas as it would render the existing runway unfit for use. Residents will be robbed of their airport for a plant that would not even produce a single watt of electric power for Subic,” Pedrosa said.

The petitioners also complained about threats of environmental degradation and dangers to health posed by the power plant.

“Certain imperative and essential risks involved with this project have not been properly bared and addressed,” the petitioners said, noting that the legislative councils of Olongapo and Zambales had opposed the coal plant, fearful of its “deadly effects on communities and residents.”

Supreme Court Case

Members of an Aeta family from Zambales province join environmental and other groups in filing a petition in the Court of Appeals in Manila against the construction of a coal-fired power plant in Subic Bay Freeport. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

A fresh round of protests was launched on Tuesday to stop the construction of a 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant in the Subic Bay Freeport.

Members of environmental groups from Zambales province and residents of Olongapo City marched in a “solidarity walk” along Manila streets before filing a petition in the Court of Appeals (CA) to stop the project of Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. (RP Energy).

RP Energy is a consortium composed of the Manila Electric Co., the Aboitiz Group of Companies and Taiwan Cogen Inc.

Around 200 marchers, who belong to Save Subic Bay: No
to Coal Stakeholders Coalition, walked from the University of the Philippines Manila campus to the CA. They were joined by members of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ).

The lawsuit against RP Energy, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), and the Department of Transportation was filed by the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber for Health and Environment Conservation (SBFCHEC) led by its president, Jen Velarmino-Van Der Heijde.

Smokestack

Joining the petition were Olongapo City Vice Mayor Aquilino Yorac-Cortez Jr.; 19 residents of Olongapo, Subic and nearby towns of Bataan and Zambales provinces; and PMCJ represented by lawyer and Sanlakas secretary general Jose Aaron Pedrosa Jr.

The petitioners invoked what they described as “the imperative need to rectify the breach of statutory responsibilities of the Department of Transportation and the CAAP under the domestic and international aviation standards.”

They claimed the CAAP issued a height clearance permit allowing RP Energy to erect
a 144-meter dual smokestack for the power plant, atop a 10.68-meter elevated area.

They asked the appeals court to issue a temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction to stop the construction, cancel RP Energy’s height clearance permit, and to provide them with copies of all CAAP documents regarding the project.

The petitioners said RP Energy’s presentation of the project showed the smokestack alone would be 150 meters high, so the total height would be 160.68 meters, way above the 150-meter limitation set by the CAAP for areas around the Subic Bay International Airport.

The Inquirer on Tuesday tried to reach Jason Gavina, corporate social responsibility officer of the RP Energy office at Subic Bay Freeport, for a statement, but he did not take calls. He also did not reply to text messages.

Permit

RP Energy began initial construction despite its failure to secure the necessary construction permit from the building permit and safety department of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), the petitioners said.

“The proposed coal plant project will hamper the growth of Subic and nearby areas as it would render the existing runway unfit for use. Residents will be robbed of their airport for a plant that would not even produce a single watt of electric power for Subic,” Pedrosa said.

The petitioners also complained about threats of environmental degradation and dangers to health posed by the power plant.

“Certain imperative and essential risks involved with this project have not been properly bared and addressed,” the petitioners said, noting that the legislative councils of Olongapo and Zambales had opposed the coal plant, fearful of its “deadly effects on communities and residents.”

Supreme Court case

In February 2015, the Supreme Court set aside the writ of kalikasan asked by environmental groups and the No to Coal in Subic Bay Broader Coalition, a group of environmental and renewable energy advocates.

The high court also upheld the validity of the environmental compliance certificate issued to RP Energy by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in December 2008.

RP Energy had signed a 50-year lease development agreement with the SBMA on June 28, 2010, for the use of 38 hectares of land in the free port.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.ne

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By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat

Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC) is optimistic on its operation as the Subic Bay Freeport Zone becomes more robust this 2018 due to increasing investments and activities in the port area.

Due to recent developments in logistics infrastructure and rapid economic growth, Asia is experiencing a boom in intra-regional trade prompting improvements in various sea ports and maritime routes in the region.

“The Subic Freeport Zone is bustling with activity from various logistics and trading firms and we project growth will continue due to the infrastructure program of the administration,” said SBITC president Roberto Locsin.

The National Government has allocated P500 million through the General Appropriations Act to refurbish the piers and wharves in the Subic Bay Freeport zone 4.

SBMA chairperson and administrator, Wilma Eisma, also inked strategic tie-ups with major US ports for Subic’s expansion and business plans this 2018.

Port expansion is seen as a priority by SBMA in order to make Subic a global maritime trade player. In response to the growing demands of international trade, the SBMA plans to improve local infrastructures and develop industrial zones while increasing port capacity through national funding.

SBMA has set a target to fully develop the Subic Bay Freeport Zone by 2022.

“Our priority is to make Subic a more open and competitive Freeport in international trade. With additional investment prospects in the works, Subic Bay is moving forward with positive momentum,” said Eisma.

Last year, SBITC launched the container freight station (CFS) which is envisioned to serve as a regional distribution center (RDC). Locsin calls it the one and only on-dock warehouse among the ports in Region III.

Just recently, SBITC also opened a container barge service spurring inter-island trade with Cebu and Cagayan de Oro. The service connects Subic to Bacolod, Iloilo, Samar, and Leyte through the Cebu port, while the Cagayan de Oro port connects Subic to the whole island of Mindanao. The barge service is expected to open more opportunities for shippers around the country to connect with international trade through the Subic port.

SBITC also commended the partnership between SBMA and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to integrate their respective plans for the Subic-Clark economic corridor which is expected to result in significant investments for the Philippines.

“2018 will be an exciting year for the Subic Bay Freeport Zone as various international firms have recognized the potential of Subic Bay as a strategic gateway in the Asian market. With cautious optimism, SBITC will continue to be a progressive partner for economic prosperity through managing our ports,” Locsin said.

SBITC, an ICTSI company, is a leader in global port management due to its fast, reliable, and cost-efficient system implemented to its ports in the Subic Bay Freeport Area. The company manages the New Container Compound Terminals 1 and 2 as part of SBMA’s port development master plan to make Subic Bay the premier trading hub in Southeast Asia.

Source: Manila Bulletin

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Anvaya Cove Sea Breeze Verandas – More than most sports, golf is considered a lifestyle choice and many aficionados, given the chance, would tee off on a daily basis. When Southeast Asia-based expatriate Paul Temple decided last year to go into semi-retirement, he chose to do just that.

“I’m an avid golfer so I wanted to find a property in a place where I could play all day and also spend more time relaxing and writing,” explains the 58-year-old Canadian. After viewing properties in China, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, Temple eventually opted to purchase a PHP15 million (USD343,000) condominium unit at Anvaya Cove, a mixed-use golf and leisure community located near the Philippines’ Subic Bay.

Developed by Ayala Land Premier, the luxury residential wing of the country’s largest property developer, the 470-hectare project comprises a Golfplan-designed 18-hole golf course, as well as residential components divided into nine “neighbourhoods”, with some plots overlooking the course.

According to Jose Juan Jugo, head of Ayala Land Premier, Anvaya Cove, which launched a decade ago, has started to attract foreign buyers since the course opened last year. “The golf club has really put the icing on the cake,” he says. “We anticipate further interest in this sort of investment from what we see as a global market.” Jugo adds that investment opportunities are available to foreigners and the club also runs a condominium leasing programme that allows owners to make, on average, PHP3,500 (USD80) per night.

The growing popularity of residential golf course communities is not new to the region, although talk of investment schemes and timeshares does bring back memories of the niche market’s murky past in Southeast Asia. Certain projects, especially in Thailand, which has long been the region’s premier golf destination, became renowned for their shady investment schemes, ownership issues and the occasional bankruptcy.

A famous case is the rise and demise—and possible rise again—of Phuket’s Blue Canyon Country Club. Once one of Asia’s most celebrated courses—it twice hosted tournament and gained praise from golf legends such as Tiger Woods and Greg Norman—the club has spent the past decade stumbling from one calamity to the next. The owner, Murex, went bust in 2004, lawsuits were filed and court cases have rumbled on for the past nine years.

After a recent acquisition by local firm Ocean Group, however, things may be looking up.

“Compared to mature markets, like the US, where multi-million-dollar golf properties are the norm and speciality markets are established, buyers haven’t embraced golf enough to live in these often secluded estates,” says asset management and hospitality consultant Bill Barnett.

“In Southeast Asia, the golf property market has been something of a basket case.” He adds, however, that many of the less-desirable courses fell to the wayside after the ’97 Asian financial crisis and the new breed of golf communities, developed by property heavyweights, are banking on brand loyalty and additional luxuries.

Indeed, in an effort to drive investment from the wider market, many in the latest wave of courses and clubhouses, like Anvaya Cove, are being integrated into larger master-planned communities and offer residents lifestyle amenities including beach clubs, adventure facilities and retail outlets.

Some of the region’s leading high-end developers are also teaming up with global brands, namely Indochina Land’s collaboration with Colin Montgomerie on Danang-based property Montgomerie Links Vietnam and the DAMAC partnership with Trump Golf. The Middle East’s largest developer’s latest master development, AKOYA by DAMAC, set to comprise 7,000 residential units, will feature the first Trump-branded golf course in Asia.

Whilst Trump International Golf Course, Dubai is the company’s initial foray into Asia’s golf market, Donald Trump, president of The Trump Organization, is confident that the brand will expand its presence as the sport continues to take off around the region. “There is tremendous potential in Asia. It’s amazing, in fact,” he says. “I think it helps to see the world as an emerging market—there are so many locations that are terrific and for many reasons I’m optimistic when it comes to expanding because we’ve experienced tremendous success.”

But a big-name collaboration is not the only recipe for success. Some smaller, yet highly reputable courses with residential components have also benefitted front the resurgent demand for golf real estate.

The Thai coastal resort of Hua Hin and surrounding area is home to more than 20 courses, including the golf communities of Black Mountain and Palm Hills, both of which recently witnessed a surge in investment.

A British investor and founder of a Hua Hin-based boutique developer, who doesn’t wish to be named, purchased his first property at Palm Hills in 2002. He has since bought an additional 12 plots within the community on which he’s built three- and four-bedroom villas.

During the 12-year period, the Hua Hin resident of 30 years claims land prices have significantly increased. “Hua Hin, which has grown into one of the country’s leading golfing destinations, is an extremely active market and golf properties are selling each and every week,” he says.

“When I started buying plots and developing properties, I was paying about THB3 million (USD924,000) for 1.5 rai (2,400 sqm). Nowadays the same plots are going for more than THB7 million (USD215,650).”

The investor adds that overseas buyers, many of whom use the properties as holiday homes, have had a positive impact on the local market. Furthermore, the International Association of Golf Tour Operators notes that golf tourists spend an estimated 120 percent more than average tourists and regularly purchase second homes in favoured destinations.

Luxury residential real estate agent Sotheby’s, which for some time has focused on global golf property, last year launched a dedicated branch to handle the specialised market. The agent oversees some of the region’s top golf course communities, including Montgomerie Links Vietnam and Blue Canyon Country Club.

Sotheby’s Vietnam-based associate director Christopher Piro agrees that whilst tourism has played a major role in the market’s renaissance, the most significant factor is the increasing affluence of regional investors from the countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.

“Rising salaries amongst Asia’s middle-classes has had a pretty significant impact on the market and they are looking especially for property priced around the USD500,000 mark,” he explains.

“This price level attracts, for example, directors from banks and other financial institutions, who are maybe making their second or third overseas investment and see golf property as an attractive alternative to more expensive real estate, with the added bonus of lifestyle amenities.”

Golf and leisure communities, both boutique and branded, will undoubtedly continue to emerge around the region to cater not only to the changing tastes of the region’ rapidly increasing middle class and the influx of international golf tourists, but to accommodate the future hub of the sport. As HSBC’s recent report Golf’s 2020 Vision notes: “It seems only a matter of time before the centre of gravity in the game moves to Asia. Just as the popularity of cricket in India means that the sub-continent has become the economic and political centre of the sport, so we expect to see the centre of the professional golf game move towards Asia.”

Source: Property Guru

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By: Henry Empeño

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) ended the past year with P1.2 billion in revenue generated from its seaport operations, posting a 3-percent annual increase on account of a 12-percent hike in the volume of containerized cargo processed in the Subic port.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the SBMA Seaport Department collected a total of P1,173,720,042 in revenue in the January-to-December period last year, compared to the P1.137 billion it made in 2016.

Eisma also attributed the growth in seaport income to “the continuing effort of the SBMA Seaport Department to upgrade its process flow.” She said this has minimized transaction time and attracted more importers and exporters to use the Port of Subic.

SBMA seaport figures indicated the volume of containerized cargo grew to 139,980 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2017, from just 124,707, TEUs in 2016.

This increase in containerized cargo had reportedly offset a 6-percent decrease last year in the volume of noncontainerized cargo, which fell to only 6,646,322 metric tons as against 7,071,444 metric tons in 2016.

SBMA data also showed that its Seaport Department processed 66,172 TEUs of imported containerized products in 2017, a 9-percent increase over the 60,593 TEUs processed in 2016.

Meanwhile, the department processed 25,007 TEUs of exported containerized products last year, which was 6 percent higher than the 23,527 TEUs in 2016.

The increase in import-export volume that passed through the Port of Subic also resulted in a significant increase of containerized cargoes transshipped in the free port: 1,462 TEUs from January to December 2017 against 368 TEUs in 2016, or an increase of 297 percent.

Jerome Martinez, head of the SBMA Seaport Department, said much of the increase in revenue was due to the growth in imported products like vehicle parts by Foton Motor Philippines Inc.; paper materials by Trust International Paper Corp.; and rubber by Yokohama Tire Philippines Inc., which were all sourced from Japan.

He said an increase in export revenue could also be attributed to increased export of tires by Yokohama Tires Philippines to Japan; Juken Sangyo Philippines for veneer lumber also to Japan; and HLD Clark Steel Pipe Co. for steel pipes to the United States.

Another factor in seaport revenue growth, Martinez said, was the implementation of Republic Act 10668, also known as the Foreign Ships Co-Loading Act, which allowed arriving or departing ships to carry a foreign cargo to its Philippine port of final destination, after being cleared at its port of entry or exit.

“This law tends to decrease, in some instances, vessel activities going to the Port of Subic, particularly in the importation and exportation of goods,” Martinez said.

“However, transshipment activities also increased.”

The devaluation of the peso against the US dollar and the unstable global price of crude oil in the world market, which caused a decline of the importation of petroleum products, also buoyed Subic seaport income, Martinez added.

Eisma expressed optimism for the Port of Subic this year, pointing out that one of the world’s largest cruise ships will be arriving here in June for a 12-hour tour of the Subic Bay area.

Eisma said the cruise-vacation giant Royal Caribbean International had confirmed this development after company officials led by Dr. Zinan Liu spent a two-day assessment of the Subic Bay area last December for the purpose of including Subic in the itinerary of RCI’s Asian cruise program.

Source: Business Mirror

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