Zambales town turns over 10K-hectare land for SBMA dev’t

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, Philippines – The fenced area of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) formally expands to Zambales as the municipal government of San Antonio turned over to SBMA an area covering 10,000 hectares for development.

The turnover is in line with Sangguniang Bayan Resolution No. 13-080 dated last Nov. 19, granting the 10,000 hectares of land and water as additional secured area of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and declaring it San Antonio Economic Development Area.

According to the resolution, Sitios Silangin, Nagsasa and Talisayin, all in the Redondo Peninsula, will be included and entitled to tax and duty-free privileges of the freeport.

SBMA chairman Roberto Garcia formally received a copy of the resolution from San Antonio Mayor Estella Antipolo during the turnover ceremonies last Dec. 2 at the SBMA boardroom.

Garcia said the decision is timely since the freeport is lacking available land area it could offer to foreign investors for development.

“Many foreign investors have signified interest in putting up investments in Subic. However, there are only less than 300 hectares of land available within the fenced area,” said Garcia, who has just returned from an investment mission in Japan to promote the Subic-Clark Corridor.

“So the resolution comes at a very good time because of the high interest of foreign investors in the Philippines. We should take advantage of this,” he said, adding that investors’ confidence in the country remains strong.

Lawyer Randy Escolango, SBMA deputy administrator for legal affairs, who facilitated the turnover, said the move was in line with Executive Order No. 675, which grants its consent to the conversion of areas outside the “fenced area” into an additional area or additional secured area of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

Antipolo, for her part, said the resolution was passed to ensure the progress of San Antonio.