By HENRY EMPEÑO |

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is banking on a bill filed last week at the Senate to extend the physical boundaries of the Subic Special Economic and Freeport Zone and thereby keep investments and jobs coming in.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said Senate Bill 2207 filed the other week by Senator Richard Gordon is crucial to the continued viability of Subic Freeport as an economic growth center because the former American naval base does not have enough flat land for further development.

Gordon, who was SBMA chairman from 1992 to 1998, had filed Senate Bill 2207 the other week to expand the area of the Subic Bay Freeport, as well as that of the neighboring Clark Freeport.

Under the proposed measure, some parts of Zambales and Bataan provinces, along with areas in Olongapo City, will be made an adjunct of the Subic Bay Freeport under a phased expansion program.

Eisma said that in consultation with the SBMA last year, neighboring local government units pledged about 21,000 hectares of expansion areas for future investment projects.

These included 9,000 hectares in San Antonio; 10,000 hectares in San Marcelino; 500-600 hectares in Subic; 500 hectares in Castillejos; and 900 hectares in Olongapo City, all in Zambales; as well as 505 hectares in Hermosa, Bataan.

“We want these areas to be utilized as economic zones because we’re already running out of space in the Subic Bay Freeport,” Eisma said in a statement on Wednesday.

The proposed expansion, she added, “will sustain the growth of the Subic Freeport, attract more investments, and generate jobs for residents from nearby communities and other areas.”

In filing the bill, Senator Gordon said that there was a need to update Republic Act 7227, otherwise known as the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992, in order to further strengthen the Subic and Clark free ports.

He said that once enacted, the proposed measure will also give the expanded territories the same tax incentives as those in Subic Freeport and Clark Freeport so that they can attract investments projects.

Senate Bill 2207 also seeks to increase the area of the Clark Special Economic Zone from the current 4,400 hectares to 35,400 hectares and mandates Subic and Clark authorities to frame some master plan for the phased expansion.