Roman seeks to professionalize SBMA
A LADY legislator moved to strengthen the administration and operational governance of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) by amending provisions of Republic Act (RA) No. 7227.
Bataan 1st District Representative Geraldine Roman, principal author of House Bill (HB) 530 and a member of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD), appealed to her colleagues in the House of Representatives for the immediate passage of her bill, revitalizing the bases conversion development, amending for the purpose RA No. 7227, otherwise known as the “Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992,” as amended.
Roman, the chairperson of the House Committee on Women and Gender Equality, said it is high time to incorporate provisions to professionalize the SBMA Board of Directors and also to ensure and strengthen the public safety and security of the free-port zone.
In her proposed measure, amendments were introduced to improve revenue collection and thereby increase the shares of the local government units (LGUs) affected and the share of the national government.
Reallocation formulas for the sharing received by the Province of Bataan and Pampanga from the 2% tax on gross income from all business enterprises within the free-port zone were introduced in her bill.
Also proposed were sections designating additional seats to the Board of Directors of the SBMA of LGUs and from Indigenous Peoples (IPs) residing within the Subic Bay Freeport Zone were incorporated.
Roman said amendments were taken into consideration during the 17th Congress based on reaffirming the powers granted to the SBMA by RA No. 7227, as amended.
Roman champions equal opportunity to all Filipinos. For her, equal opportunity is a “state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified.”
Roman stands for advancement to be open to everybody without regard for wealth, status, or membership in a privileged group.
