CEBU, Philippines - The municipality of Balamban aims to promote itself as a business-friendly town, encouraging investors from other industries to consider the town as a potential investment hub in the province aside from being branded as the “shipbuilding capital of Cebu.â€
Over the years, Balamban has been home to Tsuneishi Heavy Industries, Inc., one of the leading medium-sized shipbuilders globally. It is mainly involved in shipbuilding, ship repair and manufacturing of outfittings for ships and vessels.
The development of the West Cebu Industrial Park (WCIP) in Barangay Arpili, Balamban has been appropriate to accommodate the operations of medium and heavy industries particularly for shipbuilding and associated business activities.
WCIP is a 274-hectare estate project of Cebu Industrial Park Developers, Inc. (CIPDI) which is a joint venture between the Aboitiz Group and Tsuneishi Holdings, Inc. (THI).
WCIP houses the fabrication and outloading facility of Metaphil International, Inc., a Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) – registered company managed by the Aboitiz Construction Group, Inc..
The Austal and Philippines Shipyard Operations which opened last January of this year also stands at the WCIP. It is a global defense prime contractor that designs, constructs and maintains revolutionary naval platforms. The company has invested US$15 million to develop a world-class, high-technology manufacturing operation in Cebu.
In an interview with Balamban municipal mayor Ace Stefan Binghay, he said that the town will be forever grateful to the shipbuilding industry as the growth of industry-related companies has sprouted the employment opportunities among the residents in the area.
He said that there is an estimate number of 15,000 employees who are from Balamban and neighboring provinces that are hired to work for the shipbuilding sector.
However, he noted that they do not restrict any other businesses to come into the municipality. Instead, they encourage more stakeholders from any industry to take a look at Balamban and eventually invest in the town.
Balamban is located at the western coast of Cebu province. It is subdivided into 28 barangays with an estimate population of 80,000 people. It is situated 47 kilometers from the city with a travel time of an hour or less.
It could be reached through the Naga-Uling route, the north route via Lugo and the transcentral highway route passing through the Lahug-Busay road of Cebu City.
Balamban has a land area of 33,700 hectares which is considered to be the largest in the entire province, thus much capacity to accommodate more investments, according to Binghay.
He added that peace and order in the town is guaranteed and also assured that the labor force in Balamban is considered to be hardworking and diligent.
Now on his second mayoralty term, Binghay said that apart from his priority projects geared towards education and health, he intends to promote entrepreneurship and investment in area.
He cited that there is an emerging growth of small-scale businesses in the province that span from food, retail and trading sectors.
He said that this could be attributed to the increase of purchasing power of the residents due to employment generation of the shipbuilding industry.
In order to boost investments in the town, he revealed that they plan to relocate 26 food stalls in the 1 000-meter boardwalk facing the sea. They hope to fully implement such two months from now.
Apart from the shipbuilding industry, townspeople also earn a living from farming as their primary livelihood. They grow corn, crops and vegetables as their agricultural produce that are sold to markets for locals.
Balamban is also the only source of abaca fiber in the entire province of Cebu. It has 260 to 300 hectares of abaca plantation found in Mount Manunggal that is located in Barangay Magsaysay, known as the crash site of the presidential plane which carried and killed President Ramon Magsaysay in 1957.
Among Binghay’s projects related to education and health include the provision of free school supplies for kindergarten, elementary and highschool students to address the lack of school materials, purchasing of ceiling fans for all classrooms in the entire municipality to make it more conducive for learning, and the promotion sports and culture among the youth.
Balamban also has two existing birthing centers that provide free health services to the residents. The local government is currently working out on another diagnostic and birthing centre and is planning to provide ultrasound services, x-ray and dialysis machine for the first time. /JOB (FREEMAN)