Salceda thanks PBBM for allowing enactment of Bulacan Ecozone Law
HOUSE committee on ways and means chairman Joey Sarte Salceda (Albay, 2nd district), who principally authored and sponsored the Bulacan Ecozone Law, on Friday thanked President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. for allowing the enactment of the measure, the first version of which was vetoed at the start of the Marcos administration.
“I thank the administration for allowing the enactment of the Bulacan Ecozone Law. Because he vetoed the first version, carried over from the 18th Congress, I filed a new version that cures the defects the President cited in his veto message,” Salceda said.
“We went through several back-and-forth communication with the Executive Secretary, with the economic agencies, and even with environmental agencies concerned with flooding. Study after study was made. We worked with the whole Bulacan delegation on amendments. It was extensive work. I’m elated that the President saw the merit in the work done, and registered no opposition to this version,” he said.
Republic Act (RA) No. 11999, which establishes the Bulacan Special Economic Zone (EcoZone) Freeport or the Bulacan EcoZone and the Bulacan Special Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (BEZA), lapsed into law on June 13. The copy of the bill was made public Friday.
“The Bulacan Ecozone is our chance to get urban planning right. NAIA was a mess. It should not be where it is. We did not build an industrial base around it, or even plan transport and logistics. As a result, it does not realize its industrial potential, and is a bane on the traffic and congestion situation in Manila,” Salceda said.
“Bulacan Airport will be the biggest investment ever made in the Philippines. You have to surround it with a well-planned ecozone. You can build export industries around it, because airports are now the world’s fastest ports of entry for goods. Electronics exports thrive around airports. Imagine Mactan but on steroids,” Salceda added.
Salceda also said that “Bulacan deserves its time in the sun. Among all provinces adjacent to Manila, it has historically been underinvested. It is also the link between Manila and Clark. Conjoining these two megacities requires urbanizing Bulacan and building the necessary infrastructure.”
Salceda said he sees “a gross export potential of USD 200 billion for Bulacan ecozone. You will boost GDP by at least P130 billion every year, and land value gains will be at least P226 billion.”
“That will create massive revenue gains in income taxes and property taxes, so the foregone revenue from tax incentives will get offset,” Salceda, the House tax chair, added.
Salceda expressed hopes that, with Bulacan airport underway, there will be investors interested in the logistics chains that a massive international airport will create.
“I think a lot of them will start investing in Bulacan before the airport gets completed. Years from now, when Bulacan ecozone has become our latest success story, people will look back and say this started under PBBM,” he said.
