CEZA remitted P1.42B to nat’l treasury since ‘05
reached more than P611 million since 2005.
Cagayan Freeport
Ponce said that realizing the objective to develop Cagayan province was not an easy task as CEZA met a number of challenges along the way, particularly with the enactment of Republic Act 7922, or the Cagayan Special Economic Zone Act of 1995 which created the CEZA to manage and supervise the development of Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport ( CSEZFP) covering Santa Ana in Cagayan province and the islands of Fuga, Barit and Mabbag in Aparri.
CEZA started out with limited - ment funds to jumpstart development in its early years. “In the beginning, it was hard to obtain investments. For this reason, CEZA could only obtain a maximum of four locators and two port users in a row in a span of almost a decade,” Ponce said.
With little economic activity was at risk of closing due to this moribund performance.
In 2014, the used vehicles imports and magnetite ore exports via Port Irene were stopped. Ponce noted that CEZA lost 80 percent of its biggest sources of revenue.
“These were just among the challenges that tested CEZA’s strength and proven its resilience and the aftermaths of these challenges are now testimonies of the management’s commitment and competence, not only to subsist but to make a major turnaround,” he said.
However, the upbeat performance of the Cagayan Freeport in the past decade was evident in many ways.
From hardly any locator in 2004, CEZA now has 217 registered enterprises, three port users, and three accredited service providers.
“More locators mean in increase in investments, more employment opportunities, and higher revenues. Increase in revenues brings stability and self- sufficiency,” Ponce said.
The ecozone has not relied on government subsidy since 2009.
“This means that CEZA can very well provide for its personnel services, maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlays for the procurement of property, plant and equipment,” Ponce said.
“It was a rollercoaster ride but the extreme transformation is a leadership and good governance under Secretary Jose Mari Ponce’s watch,” said an employee who experienced what it was like from the beginning.