Aiming to put in motion a program of shared growth in the Subic Bay area, directors of the Subic Bay Metropolitan

Authority (SBMA) have devised a special project to link up with local government units and coordinate planning and implementation of development projects at neighboring communities.

  SBMA chairman Roberto Garcia said the special program, dubbed as “Project Unity,” takes after the concept of “inclusive growth” which is one of the four commitments of President Benigno  Aquino  under his “Social Contract with the Filipino People.”

  To implement this program, the SBMA board of directors recently created a special committee headed by director Bienvenido Benitez as chairman, with director Philip Camara as vice chairman.  The committee also includes Garcia and directors John Philip Chua Chiaco, Ramon Diez Sesdoryo, and Alfonso Siapno.

Garcia said the project was especially designed to create synergy in development and investment projects that have large multiplier effects on local economies and the areas contiguous to the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

 To push for the implementation of “inclusive growth” in the area, Garcia said that Project Unity would also make use of Executive Order No. 675 as vehicle to undertake the SBMA program.

EO 675, which was issued in November 2007, extended the secured area of the Subic Special Economic and Free Port Zone (SSEFPZ), as defined by Proclamation No. 532 dated February 1, 1995. Subic’s secured area enjoys tax- and duty-free privileges under Republic Act 7227.

Garcia said that Project Unity aims for a synergistic approach to sub-regional development, “which is why we are planning various initiatives that are geared toward pro-active stakeholders, and among the SBMA and the concerned local government units.”

He also said that Project Unity will be especially useful in deciding environmentally-sensitive projects (ESPs) that may possibly impact on local communities, the pooling of scarce resources toward better and more efficient project development and implementation, and the coordination of investment plans in the area.

Garcia said the SBMA has already made initial discussions with LGU officials of the provinces of Zambales and Bataan to get the program going.

Recently, the project’s vice chairman, SBMA director Philip Camara, introduced the project concept to officials of the provincial government of Zambales, including Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. and Vice Gov. Ramon Lacbain II, during a session of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan at the Iba capitol.

Camara also invited the officials to a workshop to be hosted by the SBMA to provide a staging ground to flesh out the framework and concept of “inclusive growth,” as applied to sustainable sub-regional development. This will be the initial activity of Project Unity.

The workshop will be a participative and democratic process during which participants will identify possible areas or points of synergy, as far as planning and development are concerned, and hopefully arrive at a common vision for sustainable development, Camara said.

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An employee of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) was among the lucky applicants admitted

to the Global Environmental Leaders Program (NUGELP) at the Nagoya University in Japan.

Jomel Libut, an Engineer III at the

Civil & Marine Works unit of the SBMA Seaport Department’s Asset Management Division, is now a fellow of the Japanese Grant Aid for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) program for the Philippines for fiscal years 2011-2014.

He will take up an environmental

course leading to a Master’s Degree under the JDS component “Infrastructure Development for Economic Growth.” Libut, who recently toured his professors and fellow scholars in the Subic Bay Freeport while on a four-day workshop in  Manila, said he was chosen for the program because of Subic’s huge

potential in catalyzing growth among neighboring communities. “Most important, the Subic Bay Freeport has been able to balance its industrial growth with the protection of its environment. That’s why the NUGELP people are impressed with Subic,” he added. Libut, who hails from Dinalupihan,  Bataan,

has a four-year work contract with the SBMA and hopes to finish his graduate studies in two years. He said that he will then use this knowledge to work for the sustainable development of the Subic port.

Dr. Takayuki Morikawa, the program leader at NUGELP and professor at Nagoya University’s Graduate School of Environmental Studies, said JDS fellows like Libut will major in Infrastructure Development and Environmental Conservation under the supervision of NUGELP academic advisors who specialize mainly in Civil Engineering.

He said that through the workshop, NUGELP hopes to exchange ideas and share experiences with JDS target government agencies, universities, and other relevant organizations on the needs for human resource development (HRD) for the Philippines in infrastructure development. The program is being undertaken in coordination with the National Economic Development Authority, Department of Public Works and Highways, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

When asked about the performance by local scholars under the program, Morikawa said that Filipino graduate students always “did a good job.” “We have a history of inviting foreign students, and quite a few Filipinos — not only in our program —did a very good job. A few took up Master’s studies and some even took Doctor’s degrees in our university,” he said.

“People created new business, new economic activities here. I think that the Subic Bay Freeport is a very active place,” Morikawa added.

Investment pledges in Subic Bay Freeport breached the $1-billion mark in the nine months to September, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) said.

Pledges from local investors reached an all-time high of $1.07 billion here in the first nine months of this year, entirely dominating the arena with 72 out of the 95 projects approved by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) in the said period.

  According to a periodical report released by the SBMA Business and Investment Group, the Subic Freeport generated new investments worth $1.08 billion from January to September this year.

Of this, a full $1.07 billion or 99.18 percent of the total were proposed by Filipino-owned companies.

Meanwhile, foreign direct investments (FDIs) dropped by 99.21 percent from $1.12 billion to $8.8 million for the same period this year, the report indicated.

 With more and bigger projects, local investors also dominated the Top 10 list of approved projects in terms of committed investments for the period, and shifted the bulk of investment pledges from services and logistics to energy-related ventures.

SBMA records for the period January-September 2011 showed that three new renewable energy projects with committed investments totaling more

than $1.03 billion, became the Freeport’s top three investors, comprising 97 percent of total local investment pledges.

Topping the Top 10 list of local investors are Energy Logics Solar Holdings, Inc., which pledged $458.5 million in August to establish and operate a solar energy project; Jobin-SQM, Inc., with $300 million in January to engage in new renewable, non-conventional and environment-friendly energy sources and systems; and Energy Logics  Philippines, Inc., with $280 million in August to develop, install, construct and operate a utility-scale wind energy project.

Meanwhile, Multifront Marketing

Corp. landed in the fourth place with $22.7 million for the importation and trading of lubricants, automotive and industrial diesel, fuels and other oil-based products.  Number five is Rowena Minoo Samurai, Inc., which committed $1.5 million to engage in a construction business.

In the sixth place is First Subic Food Ventures Corp., with $932,000 to establish a McDonald’s fast-food chain; followed by Flight and Simulator Training, Inc. with $900,000 for an aviation and flight training school.  Taking the eighth place is Segara Subic Bay Properties, Inc. with $699,137 for the establishment hotels, dormitories, or boarding houses, restaurants, and other leisure and

recreational facilities.The last two projects in the same

list are Tornwall Vex Corporation with $488,372 to engage in the wholesale and retail of various electronic products, resins, steel and other related merchandise; and Green Expertise Allied Services with $465,000 for the trading of hazardous waste, scrap materials and other related services.

 With the biggest projects proposed by energy-related ventures, the utility sector has topped the field of investment generation in the Subic Bay Freeport with total committed investments worth $738.5 million since January. The manufacturing sector followed with a total of $301.37 million.

Subic investment pledges top $1b

SBMA links up with LGUs for ‘inclusive

growth’ in Subic Bay

SBMA Dir. Philip Camara introduces the “Project Unity” concept to the Zambales provincial government during a session of the provincial board at the Iba capitol presided by Zambales Vice Gov. Ramon Lacbain.

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is seeking out investors or project partners for its planned

utility-scale solar and wind power projects.

The agency which is supervising and administering the Subic freeport zone indicated in its project brief that it may align itself as facility host; but it will also work on facilitating partnership arrangements between and among developers.

SBMA is packaging two sets of wind and solar projects to be located within the freeport.

One would be a 100-megawatt solar with 50-MW wind capacity to be developed along 800 hectares of lot in Mt. Sta Rosa. The other would comprise of 112-MW wind and 131-MW solar for siting at 1,383 hectares lot in Redondo Peninsula.

The investors have to be involved in the development, installation and construction of the proposed

renewable energy (RE) facilities.The government-run entity

emphasized that both projects are still at pre-development stages and feasibility studies are yet to be completed.

The implementation and financing method for the projects, according to SBMA, will be determined based on the outcome of the project blueprints being crafted.

Many of the wind and solar power projects being planned in

the country have not advanced yet because developers are waiting for the regulatory decision on the feed-in-tariff (FIT) charges to be levied on emerging RE technologies.

Without the FIT or if the subsidy will be set too low, prospective investors may still shelve project plans if they deem it non-commercially viable to stake capital under such circumstances.

Even lenders are adamant yet at extending financing to RE ventures

without an assurance that revenue stream from the projects will be aptly supported by subsidy schemes, such as the FIT.

Solar, in particular, has been drawing extreme opposition from various groups given the developers’ bid for relatively high FIT rates.

The Energy Regulatory Commission is scheduled to re-open public hearings on the FIT petition this December 5 but a final ruling may not be rendered until the first half of 2012.

SBMA seeking solar, wind investors

Subic worker joins Nagoya graduate program

Visitors from the Nagoya University Global Environment Leaders Program (NUGELP) join the SBMA welcoming committee for a photo during the group’s visit of the Subic Bay Freeport. At right is Engr. Jomel Libut, an employee of the SBMA Seaport Department, who is taking up a Master’s degree course under the Japanese Grant Aid for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) program.

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