House OKS special ecozone near Bulacan airport
THE House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on third and final reading a bill creating the Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport Zone, which is adjacent to San Miguel Corp.’s (SMC) proposed New Manila International Airport (NMIA).
Voting 205 affirmative, 6 negative and one abstention, lawmakers voted on the passage of House Bill 7575. The bill will now be transmitted to the Senate for its own deliberation.
HB 7575 creates the Bulacan Airport City Special Economic
Zone and Freeport Authority, or Bacsezfa, which shall manage and operate the Bulacan Ecozone.
The measure said Bacsezfa shall have an authorized capital stock of P2 billion no par shares at a minimum issue of P10 each, the majority shares of which shall be subscribed and paid for by the national government and the LGUS embracing the Bacsezfa.
The measure said registered enterprises operating within the Bulacan Ecozone may be entitled to the existing pertinent fiscal in
centives granted under Executive Order 226, as amended, otherwise known as the Omnibus Investments Code of 1987, and to other fiscal incentives that may be provided by law.
Once the bill is enacted, the Bulacan Ecozone will cover the domestic and international airport, the Airport City to be developed adjacent to the airport, and lands adjacent to the Airport City as may be determined after.
Under the governing principles of the bill, the Bulacan Ecozone shall be equipped with transportation, telecommunications and other facilities needed to attract legitimate and productive investment, generate linkage industries and employment opportunities for the people of the Municipality of Bulakan and its neighboring towns and cities.
Also, the bill said any foreign national who invests an amount of $200,000, either in cash and/or equipment, in a registered enterprise shall be entitled to an investor’s visa.
The ecozone bill was crafted in response to House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda’s request that the franchise for the San Miguel Aerocity Inc. and the ecozone bills be taken up separately.
The House of Representatives earlier approved on final reading a 50-year franchise bill granting SMC permission to put up NMIA in Bulacan.
“The Bulacan Airport, with a P740-billion investment, will be the single biggest infrastructure item in the country’s history. We expect the ecozone around it to be a hub for economic growth and development for North and Central Luzon. Its downstream effects on investment and the economy will benefit the entire country. This item is also larger than any stimulus measure we could readily fund,” Salceda added.
“The need for job creation is also why I strongly pushed for a revision of the proposed New Manila International Airport franchise and the adjacent economic zone. Under the original proposal, the franchise and ecozone components would have been tackled together in one bill, with potentially contentious tax and economic provisions,” Salceda said.
The head of the House Committee on Economic Affairs, Rep. Sharon Garin of AAMBIS-OWA, is also the bill’s author and sponsor. The Bulacan Economic Zone and Freeport is expected to create economic growth and income-earning opportunities, particularly to the residents of Bulacan, through selfsustaining investments within the ecozone, Garin said.
Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz