Mactan ecozone belies pullout plan yet firms still weighing options

CEBU — Even as the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) administration denied reports that at least two companies have threatened to pack up and leave if President Estrada is acquitted in the impeachment trial, businesses inside the zone plan to discuss such an eventuality.

In a press statement, MEZ administrator Dante Quindoza said top officials and managers of the Japanese and British companies operating in the economic zone assured him that none of their firms have plans to leave the zone, due to the present political situation in the country.

However, an insider said officers of the MEZ Chamber of Exporters and Manufacturers (MEZCEM) have set a meeting this week to discuss the issue, following apprehensions that more companies are planning to leave.

The source said it is expected for a zone administrator to deny the reports to avoid public panic, but he said Japanese firms are looking into other options if the economy worsens.

Aside from political reasons, these companies are considering a transfer of their investments to other countries due to the increasing labor unrest in the country.

If Mr. Estrada were to continue his term until 2004, investors are apprehensive that there will be more labor unrest and transportation strikes.

While most of the MEZCEM officials are aware of the plan of the two foreign companies to move their operations to other countries, the source said the group fears that more companies will follow.

If the investment pullout of the Japanese and British firms pushes through, at least 2,000 workers will lose their jobs and the Philippine economy will lose at least P3 billion annually.

The source added that the two companies undertook a "decision-making review" as the economy crumbled in the aftermath of the exposé linking Mr. Estrada to millions of pesos in payoffs from jueteng operations.

Multinational companies proposed a reduction in import duties and a freeze in wage levels as a way of reducing costs.

The companies, the source said, have been badly battered by the sharp foreign currency swings that followed the exposé of Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson. — Freeman News Service