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SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — This premier commercial and industrial center has maintained its hold as the best tourist destination in Central Luzon in the last six years based on the number of local and foreign tourist arrivals.

According to the Department of Tourism (DoT) in Region 3 in its 2018 Report on the Regional Distribution of Travelers, the Subic Bay Freeport recorded a total of 1,729,435 guest arrivals last year out of the total 4,144,130 posted in the region.

This represented 41.73% of the total guest arrivals recorded the seven provinces of Central Luzon and the two economic zones of Subic and Clark Freeport in Pampanga.

Of these nine destinations, Zambales followed as second best destination with 674,359 arrivals, while Clark was a distant third with 473,162.

The rest performed as follows: Bulacan, 451,426; Nueva Ecija, 305,603; Pampanga, 266,612; Aurora, 176,818; Bataan, 53,339; and Tarlac, 13,376.

The DoT report indicated that most of the guests that arrived in Central Luzon were domestic tourists, with a total count of 3,798,848. Foreign arrivals were recorded at 338,305 while overseas guests numbered 6,977.

Subic recorded the most number of guest arrivals in December last year with 182,885, followed by 166,799 in April and 163,384 in May.

Central Luzon’s top tourist markets, the DoT also said, were Korea at 107,247 arrivals; Unites States of America, 52,249; China, 26,497; Japan, 12,686; and Australia, 9,823.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma took pride in the DoT findings and said that SBMA efforts to surpass its own tourism performance in the last few years were paying off.

“This is the result not only of the SBMA, or of the tourism establishments in Subic to draw more tourists, but of the whole Freeport community to make our place cleaner, safer, more secure and providing more memorable experiences,” Eisma said.

“The SBMA, the residents of the Freeport, and the companies, schools and other institutions that operate in the Subic Bay Freeport have been working hard together to maintain this outstanding tourism rating, and I’m so glad that we’re getting outstanding results,” she added.

The Subic Bay Freeport Zone has registered that highest number of local and foreign tourists in Central Luzon since 2013, according to figures compiled by the Department of Tourism.

In 2012, the DoT also named Subic the “Premier Convention Capital of Central Luzon.”

Subic has also been variously referred to as “Triathlon Capital” and “Theme Park Capital” of the country in recognition of its drawing power in sports and adventure tourism.

Chairman Eisma also noted that Subic has been named the fifth “hottest” destination in the Philippines today by Traveloka, which is Southeast Asia’s leading online booking platform for hotels.

This was after Subic recorded a +95% in tourist arrivals from 2018 to 2019, which was higher than the average 74% increase for the top 12 local destinations that Traveloka has monitored for the same period.

As the fifth hottest destination in terms of visitors count, Subic only came after Basco in Batanes, which was at the top slot with +386% arrivals; Legazpi City, +197%; General Santos City, +174%; and Laoag City, +160%. (Dante M. Salvana)

Source: iorbitnews.com

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By Jonas Reyes

Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero (left), Subic District Collector Maritess Martin (middle) and a customs official present to the media the container full of smuggled fireworks at the New Container Terminal 1 in Subic Bay Freeport on Friday. (Jonas Reyes)

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – The Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Subic recently seized P60-million worth of misdeclared Thailand refined sugar and fireworks at the New Container Terminal 1 (NCT1). The BOC presented the seized goods on Friday.

Port of Subic District Collector Maritess Martin said that 34 of the 35 containers contained smuggled Thailand refined sugar, while the remaining container was jam-packed with fireworks. Both shipments arrived from Hong Kong on March 31 and April 7.

Martin said that the BOC Port of Subic received an information regarding the smuggling of these contrabands, prompting her to order a hundred percent examination of the said containers. She added that the containers were consigned to JRFP International Trading, a port user and is not a Subic Freeport locator.

Martin said that the 34 containers, misdeclared as floor mats and plastic floor coverings, yielded 21,760 bags of Thailand refined sugar. The other container meanwhile contained several boxes of firecrackers.

Warrant of Seizure and Detention were issued against the shipments on April 12.

Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero (middle), Subic District Collector Maritess Martin (right) and a customs official present to the media the container full of smuggled Thailand refined sugar at the New Container Terminal 1 in Subic Bay Freeport on Friday. (Jonas Reyes)

Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero immediately ordered the revocation of the customs accreditation of both the importer and the customs broker. Appropriate charges will be filed against them for violation of Section 1401 of the Customs Modernization and Tarrif Act (CMTA).

“We will not allow illicit traders to continue to violate our laws. The Bureau of Customs is consistently working on boosting our anti-smuggling measures through the acquisition of upgraded tools for inspection and examination and close coordination with our partner-agencies such as the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the Philippine Coast Guard and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to beef up our fight against smuggling,” Guerrero stressed.

Earlier, a thorough search was conducted with the presence of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Law Enforcement Department to determine if there are illegal drugs stored inside the containers. SBMA LED’s K9 team inspected the containers and found out to be negative of drugs.

Source: facebook.com

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MANILA, Philippines — Chinese poachers are making “thousands of dollars” by extracting clams in the Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea and selling them, a US think tank expert said. But such a lucrative business has also destroyed the resource-rich waters’ marine environment and could cost coastal communities their livelihoods.

According to an ABS-CBN News report, the Chinese continue to harvest giant clams at Scarborough, locally known as “Panatag” and is considered as a traditional fishing ground off the coast of Zambales on the western shores of the Philippine island of Luzon.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. tweeted this week that the Philippine government will be taking legal action against Chinese nationals harvesting giant clams in Scarborough, but struck a conciliatory tone saying Manila and Beijing should not go to war over clams.

Replying to one of Locsin’s now-deleted tweets, Gregory Poling, director of Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, said that while Chinese clam poachers earn thousands of dollars, their activity has wiped out vast swaths of reefs — threatening food security in coastal areas.

“The Chinese poachers aren’t eating them either. They can get thousands of dollars for each shell for jewelry & figurines. They toss the meat into the sea,” Poling said.

“They’ve destroyed over 40,000 acres of reef via clam harvesting. That’s more than 10x as much as their island building killed,” he added.

They've destroyed over 40,000 acres of reef via clam harvesting > That's more than 10x as much as their island building killed. Here's a before and after (thx John McManus) of a reef near Thitu/Pagasa before & after the Chinese clam boats arrived. https://t.co/GPb1Mb8Igz pic.twitter.com/IOCa4rOoXI

— Greg Poling (@GregPoling) April 18, 2019

Ties between the Philippines and China have significantly improved under President Rodrigo Duterte, who has set aside a landmark ruling from a United Nations-backed tribunal that struck down Beijing’s “Nine Dash line” claim that encompasses most of the resource-rich sea.

Duterte’s management of the maritime dispute has frustrated nationalists, who criticized his seeming inaction towards China’s military buildup in the strategic waterway.

In a report dated September 13, AMTI said the South China Sea — which accounted for about 12% of global fish catch in 2015 — is “seriously threatened” by overfishing encouraged by government subsidies as well as harmful fishing practices.

Meanwhile, large-scale clam harvesting and dredging for island construction in recent years destroyed over 160 square kilometers of coral reefs, which were already declining by 16 percent per decade, AMTI also said.

Citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the US-based think tank said the Philippines could work with other claimant nations on management of fish stocks without comprising its claims over the sea.

It added that the only way to arrest the degradation of South China Sea is through multilateral cooperation among claimants, which involved the creation and management of the fisheries zones “regardless of the location of their territorial and maritime claims.”

Source: philstar.com

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Photo Credit: upload.wikimedia.org

NLEX Corp. said it is spending P1.6 billion to expand the capacity of Subic Freeport Expressway, or SFEx, amid growing vehicle traffic.

NLEX vice president for project management Nemesio Castillo said SFEx, or the Tipo section of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway to Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, would be expanded by one lane in each direction.

The project is expected to be completed in 16 months starting this month.

Castillo said a new tunnel and two new bridges—Jadjad Bridge and Argonaut Bridge—would also be constructed while expressway-standard LED lights would be installed to keep the expressway safe for motorists, especially for those driving at night.

SFEx, which was constructed in time for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Subic in 1996, is now a part of SCTEx.

NLEX holds the concession to manage, operate and maintain SCTEx, a 93.77-km four-lane highway, traversing the provinces of Bataan, Pampanga and Tarlac.

The management, operation, and maintenance of SCTEX was turned over by BCDA to the NLEX in 2015.

NLEX said last week it allotted P400 million this year to expand the capacity of SCTEX.

The company, which operates SCTEX, said more lanes would be built in Clark South A and South B exits; Clark North entry and exit; San Miguel northbound entry and exit; and Tarlac entry and exit.

NLEX said the construction would start on July 1 this year and be completed by November this year.

The construction of the Bamban Interchange, which will link the expressway to New Clark City, is also ongoing in time for country’s hosting of the Southeast Asian Games.

Data show since the SCTEx was opened in 2008, the average daily traffic grew by close to 600 percent from just 9,302 to 62,643 in 2018.

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MANILA, Philippines – Countries, especially Southeast Asian nations, without policies banning imports of plastic waste are at risk of being toxic dumpsites, according to the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).

A report released Tuesday, April 23, showed plastic waste from highly-industrialized nations are rerouted to developing countries after China imposed a ban on importing and processing plastic waste in 2018.

Break Free from Plastic movement global coordinator Von Hernandez said the plastic waste shipped to Southeast Asian countries is “transforming what were once clean and thriving places into toxic dumpsites.”

“It is the height of injustice that countries and communities with less capacity and resources to deal with plastic pollution are being targeted as escape valves for the throwaway plastic generated by industrialized countries,” he added.

GAIA’s study, which also made use of Greenpeace East Asia’s data on the global waste trade, listed the US, United Kingdom, Germany and Japan as among the top exporters of plastic scraps.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand bore the brunt of rerouted plastic waste shipments, despite Malaysia and Thailand imposing restrictions in mid-2018. Vietnam also took in plastic waste before restricting imports.

The influx of the plastic waste in these countries resulted to contaminated water, crop death, respiratory illnesses caused by inhaling toxic fumes from burned plastic and the formation of organized crime linked to illegal recycling operations.

Greenpeace East Asia senior campaigner Kate Lin said that once a country tightens its import policies, the sources of the plastic waste move on to other countries that have yet to regulate theirs.

“It’s a predatory system, but it’s also increasingly inefficient. Each new iteration shows more and more plastic going off grid – where we can’t see what’s done with it – and that’s unacceptable,” Lin added.

Outside Southeast Asia, India and Turkey were also notable recipients of plastic waste.

Protecting developing countries

Amid China’s move to tighten its import policies on plastic waste, overall exports of the material dropped from 11.34 million tons in the first 11 months of 2016 to 5.83 million tons in the first 11 months of 2018.

Despite the drop in exports, GAIA noted that plastic manufacturing is expected to increase by 40% in the next decade. Lin said consumer goods makers should reduce its single-use plastic packaging and shift to a refill and reuse system instead.

“Recycling systems can never keep up with plastic production, as only 9% of the plastics ever produced are recycled. The only solution to plastic pollution is producing less plastic,” Lin added.

As for the international community’s intervention, GAIA Asia Pacific regional plastics coordinator Beau Baconguis said that the least that could be done is ensure the right of the countries to know what is being brought into their shores.

The Basel Convention, an international treaty on dealing with hazardous waste, is set to convene from April 29 to May 10 to discuss Norway’s proposal extend the “prior informed consent” system to plastic waste.

The system requires exporters to seek the permission from destination countries before it can ship in its hazardous waste to that country.

“However, ultimately, exporting countries need to deal with their plastic pollution problem at home instead of passing the burden onto other communities,” Baconguis said.

Source: rappler.com

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