By HENRY EMPEÑO | January 31, 2022

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — New investments and expansion projects in the services and manufacturing sectors here fueled a sturdy 2.31% increase in job generation last year, bringing the total number of work force in this Freeport to 142,177 by the yearend.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said that despite some business difficulties brought about by the continuing Covid-19 pandemic, “Subic has been coping very well, and was finding new opportunities for businesses to survive and even prosper.”

She said that Subic’s job generation effort was driven by the services and manufacturing sectors, which now respectively hire 72% and 15% of the current workforce in the Freeport.

The SBMA chief said earlier that more than a hundred new investor firms committed some P16.67 billion in investments from January to December last year, with one investment proposal projected to generate a total of 71,250 jobs.

She said that as of now, the 3,190 Subic-registered companies in the services sector employ a total of 102,540 workers, while 93 manufacturing firms hire a total of 21,529.

On the other hand, 237 construction firms operating in Subic employ a total of 12,225 workers, while 112 companies engaged in shipbuilding and marine-related services hire a total of 5,884.

Eisma said that while some Subic locators have closed or reduced their manpower complement to ride out the pandemic, the number of workers in Subic actually increased by 1.03% in 2020 and by 2.31% in 2021.

Eisma also pointed out that except for a .32% decrease in workforce count in 2009, the Subic Freeport has been enjoying a continuous growth in jobs since 1999 when the total number of workers stood at 19,969.

“From there, our count continuously climbed to 55,875 in 2004; 88,450 in 2010; 112,653 in 2016; and finally, 142,177 in 2021,” Eisma said.

She added that even with the closure in 2019 of the Hanjin shipyard, which used to employ some 35,000 workers, Subic still registered a manpower increase of 1.37% that year.

“This was because job generation has been the top priority in Subic, as this was the reason for its being—to provide jobs, especially to those who lost theirs when the Subic Naval Base closed in 1992,” Eisma explained. “And we’re proud that since then, Subic has been able to fulfill its mandate.”

According to SBMA Labor Department manager Melvin L. Varias, most of the workers employed in the Subic Freeport come from Olongapo City, which contributed a total of 62,201 or 43.75%.

Zambales was next with 25,756 workers or 18.12% of the total; Bataan with 17,764 (12.49%); National Capital Region with 5,310 (3.73%); Pampanga, 4,388 (3.09%); Tarlac, 1,950 (1.37%); and other areas, 24,808 (17.45%).

Just last December, Varias said that a total of 2,062 workers were hired by Subic firms, mostly in the services (1,519) and manufacturing (494) sectors.

Varias said that as of December 2021, the Subic workforce is comprised of 101,113 male workers, or 71.12% of the total, and 41,064 females, or 28.88%.

He added that the biggest employers in Subic today are Datian Subic Shoes, Inc. with a total of 4,697 employees; Philippine Easepal Technology Ltd. Corp. with 2,766; EZ Set Tong Lung (Phils,) Metal Industry Co., 2,681; Sanyo Denki Phils. Inc., 1,375; and Exact Star Subic Bay Corp., 1,247 workers. ~

TOP PHOTO: Subic’s services sector makes new business by attending to the needs of repatriated overseas Filipino workers arriving at the Subic Bay International Airport during the Covid-19 pandemic