‘No Chinese plan to get PH isle’
DEPUTY Administrator Agrimero Cruz of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) has belied claims circulating lately of a supposed China plan to acquire and militarize Fuga Island disguised as development of a “Smart City.”
CEZA allegedly entered into an agreement for the development with the Fong Zhi Enterprise based in Fujian.
“We are fully aware of the fact that the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport is geographically configured in a very strategic location not only in terms of economic investment viability, but more so in terms of national security and disaster response, especially in the Northern Philippines,” Cruz said in a statement on Tuesday.
He made the statement after a report earlier claimed that China was planning to develop the island and turn it into a Smart City, which would be for the exclusive use of Chinese.
The report also claimed that the development plan had alarmed the Philippine Navy.
Cruz said CEZA had been engaging and was supportive of the country’s military tactical needs and requirements to safeguard the country’s northern frontier.
“Last Nov. 14, 2019, CEZA entered into a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the Philippine Navy that formalized the plan to build a naval detachment on Fuga Island, one of the three islands of Aparri, Cagayan. These islands, together with the whole municipality of Sta. Ana, Cagayan, comprise the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport,” he added.
Cruz said a similar MoA was forged with the Philippine Air Force last July 2018 for the usufruct of a 10-hectare property at the Cagayan North International Airport in Lallo, Cagayan for the establishment of an Air Force forward base.
” We would like to correct the misconception attributed to CEZA’s memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Fong Zhi Enterprises of China. CEZA’s MoUs with foreign investors are mere marketing tools, with short- lived effectivity of six months and are purely non-binding instruments as specifically provided in [their] terms,” he added.
Cruz stressed that the MoU with Fong Zhi was more of an expression of the parties’ intent to explore investment opportunities on Fuga Island and was subject to more tedious processes of project feasibility studies, environmental impact assessment and master planning and further subject to judicious vetting of the proposal prior to the approval of the CEZA Board of Directors.
“That MoU with Fong Zhi has already effectively lapsed and, to date, CEZA has not received any other proposal for investment on Fuga Island,” he said.
“Fuga and its adjacent islands of Mabbag and Barit are owned by private entities who offer these properties to foreign investors for investment opportunities. CEZA as the authority mandated by law to manage and supervise the CSEZFP (Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport), registers and oversees the operations of these enterprises to ensure that they operate within the ambit of and for the purposes provided under the ‘Cagayan Special Economic Zone Act of 1995’ or Republic Act 7922,” he continued.