| Residents asked to get ready for the Bataan Freeport |
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| Written by Butch Gunio / Special to the BusinessMirror | |
| Sunday, 27 December 2009 | |
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BALANGA CITY—Bataan Gov. Enrique Garcia and 2nd District Rep. Albert Garcia have asked residents here to get ready for the Free Port Area of Bataan (FAB).
Representative Garcia, author of FAB Law, said he is very excited of the bright prospects FAB can bring to the host town of Mariveles and the entire Bataan province. The law converts the Bataan Economic Zone (BEZ) into FAB. He said about 100,000 jobs will be created once FAB operates full blast. The solon pointed out that in filling up the jobs to be created at FAB, residents, particularly the youth, must have the necessary education and training. He pointed to the “Iskolar ng Bataan” program that he and Governor Garcia implemented. Launched in 2004, the scholarship program has benefited more than 50,000 college scholars in the province. The representative said the graduates of “Iskolar ng Bataan” program do not need to go far to find work as jobs are available at FAB. He said high-school graduates and out-of-school youth can also start gaining technical skills as offered by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda). There will be a domino effect in the progress here, said the solon. Sectors of transportation, housing, banking and services, among others, will flourish. The representative said big businessmen and aspiring small entrepreneurs must get ready to penetrate sectors that will thrive as FAB goes into full operation. In response, Mayor Joet Garcia said the Balanga City’s “University Town” vision is an apt response as the education of the youth here is pushed to world-class level. Mayor Garcia envisioned Balanga City to become a “University Town” by the 2020, by becoming the center of political, cultural, economic and social influence throughout Bataan. The city government has segrega-ted an 80-hectare “University Town” area that bounds all the university, colleges, high schools and elementary schools here. The city mayor outlined a mission of establishing a three-way partnership among the government, business and academe with the purpose of improving the quality of education in all academic institutions in the city. The city mayor said the quality education provided to Bataan youths at the “University Town” will be used to the work positions available soon in the FAB. Mayor Garcia also disclosed that he has already talked with Representative Garcia about the concept of industry matching to be able to come out with degree and short courses in the university and colleges here useful at the FAB and local tourism. Representative Garcia also authored the nationalization of Bagac-Mariveles Roads. The completion and rehabilitation of the perimeter road is seen to unlock the tourism potential of the province with the opening of world-class beaches lying between Bagac and Mariveles. The city mayor said the Bataan Peninsula State University (BPSU) and other colleges here may offer specialized courses to be able to support the manpower requirement at the FAB and the local tourism industry. As part of the preparation, Mayor Jesse Concepcion in Mariveles, the host town of FAB, is coming up with a scheme for the special skills training of local residents in tie up with concerned government agencies. The mayor said they would get in touch with Tesda and other government institutions for the conduct of the special skills training. “We do not want the repeat of what happened in the past when the BEZ opened in early ’70s. Many workers came from other provinces because of the lack of preparation by the local leaders at that time. That is why Mayor Concepcion is coming up with a scheme to ready residents here for employment at FAB,” said municipal administrator Luis Gonzales. Lilibeth Fuster, board president of the Peninsula Electric Cooperative (Penelco), said the energizing of all sitios in Bataan is, in a way, also in preparation for the FAB. She said with the development boom FAB will bring, it is only appropriate that the province is 100-percent energized. Last week the National Electrification Administration announced that Bataan is the first province in Luzon and the second in the country in energizing all its 459 sitios. Bataan has also the distinct record of being the first province in the country to energize all its 240 barangays from 11 towns and one city in 1997. Penelco, the sole electricity distributor in the province, is also the first electric cooperative in the country to establish substations in every town and city. Representative Garcia said the implementing rules and regulations ( of FAB is now being crafted and can be finished any time. He added that the composition of the FAB sole authority is also being finalized. The solon said FAB shall have a capital stock of P2 billion coming from the national government. He said he is working to include the initial release of fund for FAB in the General Appropriations Act next year. He sees FAB becoming a major free port and economic zone since it is strategically located along the Manila Bay. “In fact, right after the law was created, a number of investors, including foreign, are getting in touch with us and expressed keen interest in investing in FAB, an indication that the newly created FAB will become bullish,” Garcia revealed. |
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