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News &Views at the Base
Official Publication of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority
Vol XI. No. 6 November-December 2011
The 4Es of Good
PPP: Principles In
Structuring PublicPrivate Partnerships
story on page 4
News
BCDA remits P2.137-B to the National Treasury
for AFP Modernization from January to November
BCDA to CJHDevco: ‘Pay P2.6-B debt immediately’
Freeport/Ecozone News
Clark STAR gets support
SBMA bats for two-point program to
attract more investors
Icon
Burgos Circle
Happenings
January 17-18, 2012
Tango Fire: Flames of Desire
Newport Performing Arts Theater
Resorts World Manila, Pasay City
In this issue
4-5 Cover Story:
The 4Es of Good PPP:
Principles In Structuring Public-Private Partnership
Resorts World Manila presents Tango Fire:
Flames of Desire, featuring ten spectacular
dancers, one of Argentina’s finest young singers,
and a quartet of amazing musicians to take you
on a splendid journey through the seductive
history of Tango. Set to perform on January
17-18, 2012 at the Newport Performing Arts
Theater, dancers from Buenos Aires take you
to a historical trip of the world’s most alluring
dance form.
News &Views at the Base
Official Publication of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority
Vol XI. No. 6 November-December 2011
The 4Es of Good
PPP: Principles In
Structuring PublicPrivate Partnerships
About the cover:
The Subic-Clark-Tarlac
Expressway (SCTEX) is a worldclass infrastructure constructed
by the Bases Conversion
and Development Authority
(BCDA) through an Official
Development Assistance (ODA)
loan from the Japan
International Cooperation
Agency (JICA).
story on page 4
For more details, visit Resorts World Manila
website at http://www.rwmanila.com.
News
BCDA remits P2.137-B to the National Treasury
for AFP Modernization from January to November
BCDA to CJHDevco: ‘Pay P2.6-B debt immediately’
Freeport/Ecozone News
Clark STAR gets support
January 22, 2012
2012 Timex Run, Time is Runnin
Bonifacio Global City
The time is running so hurry up and register
to join the 2012 Timex Run, Time is Runnin
event that will be held on January 22, 2012 at
the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. Running
enthusiasts can choose among different race
categories—5K, 10K and 16K.
SBMA bats for two-point program to
attract more investors
Icon
Burgos Circle
3
BCDA remits P2.137-B to the
National Treasury for AFP
Modernization from January to
November
11
For more information and race details, log on to:
http://runrio.com
6
BCDA to CJHDevco:
‘Pay P2.6-B debt immediately’
12
January 22, 2012
Altitude 12K Trail Run
Camp John Hay, Baguio City
7
8
BCDA welcomes plans to develop
areas around Clark
13-14
BCDA Photo Gallery
BCDA runs after
illegally issued titles on
Bataan Techno Park
15
The Bases Group
16
Icon:
Burgos Circle
This event is part of the RunRio Races for the
year 2012.
Experience a 98% off-road running and
challenging trail inside Camp John Hay while
enjoying the cool weather and admiring the
preserved surrounding. The Altitude 12K Trail
Run will have event distances of 12K, 5K and 3K.
Prizes await the top five runners (male and
female category), the biggest group and the
sexiest runner (male and female category.)
For more information, contact race directors
Joel Bengtay at 0908-464-4187 or Philip Aquino
Pacle at 0922-260-4201.
9
‘John Hay Consensus’ formed,
set goals for Baguio
urban renewal
10
For ticket price, schedule of activities and other
details, visit http://www.philballoonfest.net
2
BCDA, JHMC to build
mini-hydro power plant
in JHSEZ property
Clark STAR gets support
http://www.facebook.com/travelviaSCTEX
and
http://www.facebook.com/SCTEX
February 9-12,2012
The 17th Philippine International
Hot Air Balloon Fiesta
Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga
Adults and children of all ages await for this
family-oriented annual event dubbed “The 17th
Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta”
to be held at the Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga.
A variety of attractions such as ballooning,
aero mo d elling,  kite  flying, paragliding,
skydiving, ultralights and airsoft speedball
are set to give the whole family a fun-filled
weekend.
SBMA bats for twopoint program to attract
more investors
Know more about BCDA.
Visit our website at: www.bcda.gov.ph
Our NEW telephone number:
(632) 575-1700
News and Views at the Base is a bi-monthly external publication of the
Public Affairs Department of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.
FELICITO C. PAYUMO
Chairman
ARNEL PACIANO D. CASANOVA, Esq.
President and CEO
Editor-in-Chief LEILANI BARLONGAY-MACASAET
Executive Editor ROY VICTOR R. ROSALES / Managing Editor MARICAR SAVELLA-VILLAMIL
Writers/Layout Artists GARRY A. CATIVO / MICHELLE S. SAN JUAN
Photographer AGEM O. ALFAFARAS / Circulation IRAH F. DAVID
Editorial Address: BCDA Corporate Center, 2/F, Bonifacio Technology Center
31st Street corner Second Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City Philippines
Tel.: (632) 575-1700 Fax: (632) 816-1113 E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.bcda.gov.ph
In the News
BCDA remits P2.137-B to the
National Treasury for AFP
Modernization from January
to November
B
ases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) President and CEO Atty. Arnel Casanova disclosed
that the state corporation remitted P2.137 billion to the National Treasury for the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) Modernization Fund from the period January to November 2011.
He said the share of the AFP Modernization Fund
came from the net proceeds of non-sale transactions such
as lease and joint-venture agreements of former Metro
Manila military camps, the biggest two of which are the
former Fort Bonifacio and a portion of the Villamor Airbase
now developed into Bonifacio Global City and Newport
City, respectively.
Under Executive Order 309, the AFP gets 50 percent
of net proceeds from non-sale transactions.
Casanova said that BCDA is set to remit some P323
million before the end of the year.
Casanova said that the BCDA has generated a total
of P52.816 billion from the disposition of Metro Manila
camps from the period May 1993 to November 2011 and
has remitted a total of P33.306 billion to the National
Treasury covering the proceeds from both sale and nonsale transactions. Of the remitted amount, P21.555 billion
went to the AFP, broken down to P12.059 billion for the
AFP Modernization Program and P9.496 billion for the
replication of military facilities.
Of the generated P52.816 billion, the AFP Share
had 41 percent of the proceeds at P21.555-B; BCDA share
had 20 percent at P10.684-B; and 14 percent represented
the share of the 14 government beneficiary agencies under
A.O. 236 at P7.143-B. The remaining amount represented
payments in the form of taxes and fees, replication of nonmilitary facilities, relocation of informal occupants, and
construction of site development projects.
Earlier, Casanova clarified that the share of the
AFP is directly remitted to the National Treasury and, in
turn, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM)
is responsible for the programming and releasing the
appropriation to the AFP to finance their modernization
program.
A well-developed portion of the Villamor Airbase now known as the Newport City is considered as one of the
booming cities in the Metro at present.
3
Cover Story
M
The 4Es of
Principles In Structuring Pu
uch has been written lately about public-private partnership as one of the centre
However, while people continue to utter these acronyms, not much is understood o
guide the common Filipinos to understand this concept and the reasons by which go
What are the traits of a good PPP?
When we assumed leadership in BCDA, one of our
first tasks is to review the contract involving the operation
and maintenance of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway
(SCTEX), the longest and most modern tollway in the
country. Taking on this big challenge which may dictate the
success or failure of public infrastructure implementation
required a clear vision and firm objectives.
Hence, when our negotiating team commenced
negotiations, I adopted certain basic principles which I call
the “4Es” of PPP as important guides that would measure our
success. These 4Es are what I consider the traits of a good
public-private partnership. They are Equity, Effectiveness,
Efficiency and Exportability.
FIRST E - EQUITY. A PPP project must be equitable.
It is paramount that only those who use and directly benefit
from the infrastructure should pay for its cost, its operations
and maintenance. No taxpayer who does not use it should
shell out hard-earned money to pay for it. Thus, it is always
desirable to have a “pay as you go” scheme than the
onerous “take or pay” scheme which requires subsidy from
the government.
In our SCTEX agreement, we have achieved this
equitable arrangement. MNTC, our private sector partner,
committed to provide sufficient cash flows, in terms of
higher revenues shares and advances for BCDA, to meet
any possible revenue shortfalls of BCDA in its debt service
payments. Further, this arrangement is a “pay when able”
basis such that payments to be made will be coming in
excess of the revenue share of BCDA. Therefore, we were
able to ensure that a taxpayer in Mindanao who will never
use the SCTEX located in Luzon, will not have to pay for its
cost, operation and maintenance. Only those who directly
use and benefit from it will pay for these costs. The ordinary
taxpayer is, henceforth, protected.
SECOND E - EFFECTIVENESS.
Effectiveness can refer to the
mode of financing, recovery of
costs and control of revenues,
incentives in efficiency in operation
and the high quality of service and
maintenance to ensure that the
public infrastructure and service
would always be at its best in any
given period of the concession.
BCDA constructed
the SCTEX with an ODA
concessional loan from Japan
Bank of International Cooperation
(JBIC). This is a necessary means
of financing because at the time
of the inception of the project, the
private sector cannot bear the high
cost of financing that the project
requires. Besides, a portion of
the SCTEX project is considered
“missionary” as the traffic volume
The 94-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) is one of the many BCDA
projects that is a product of a successful Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
4
Good PPP:
ublic-Private Partnerships
epiece programs of the Aquino administration.
on the whys and the hows of PPPs that would
overnment and private sector would converge.
is not yet mature. On a “greenfield” project such as this, the
risk-averse private sector financing would not be willing to
take on the financial burden without high premium which
would then make the cost of the project unaffordable.
Hence, a public sector initiative must be taken.
The peculiarity of building public infrastructure
necessitates governmental initiative because it is a field
which is not market-driven but “vision-inspired”. We do not
build roads when congestion is already persistent. We build
roads even before traffic comes. Public infrastructure is not
created by the market. It creates and shapes the market.
It is like building the great cathedrals of Europe, the one
who envisions it must sometimes accept the reality that its
completion will not be in his lifetime. But nonetheless, they
must be built. This is true in public infrastructure and all the
more true in nation-building.
In our agreement, whatever cost BCDA incurred
would be recovered. On top of the recovery of that cost, we
projected BCDA to receive additional revenues amounting
to P34 billion. Hence, BCDA effectively provides a vital
public infrastructure that would generate jobs and economic
opportunities to the region and the country without burden
to the taxpayer plus a revenue for the national government.
Moreover, this agreement provides BCDA an
effective control of its revenues as the gross toll revenues
will be placed in an escrow account in favor of each parties.
It likewise provides the funding BCDA needs to ensure
the payment of its obligations and providing a guarantee
amounting to P20.5 billion for the maintenance of the
tollroad. This guarantee makes certain that the quality and
safety of the infrastructure is at its best always.
THIRD E - EFFICIENCY. Our experience in the
old expressways and their deterioration in the past, point
to the lack of competence of the government in running
tollways or public utilities. There were a lot of inefficiencies,
corruption and leakages. The privatization of their operation
and maintenance proved to be a more efficient measure so
that necessary investment in technologies and upgrading in
infrastructure could be made by the private sector who has
the better capability in dealing with these issues.
By Atty. Arnel Paciano D. Casanova
BCDA President and CEO
With MNTC as our private sector partner, we are
bringing in the best and most competent toll road operator
in the country. The quality of service and infrastructure in
NLEX is a proof of that. With the seamless connection of
NLEX and SCTEX, the motorists would have faster and
easier access to their destinations in Central and Northern
Luzon. And with the interconnectivity of Subic international
seaport and the Clark international airport, we shall have the
three biggest infrastructures in the country serving as the
tools for synergy of these economic zones to be catalysts of
national development.
As more players in the field of public infrastructure
and utilities come in, the level of competition heightens which
could lead to better services and affordability to the public
consumers. However, this would also need a regulatory
environment that is predictable, transparent and free from
regulatory capture.
FOURTH E - EXPORTABILITY. Exportability refers
to the shifting and allocation of risks from the government to
the private sector who can deal with these risks better and
more efficiently. Unlike in past failed PPPs which proved
to be prejudicial to the government because government
was obliged to provide a guarantee to the private sector, the
agreement that we have here is the total opposite. BCDA
or the government for that matter does not provide any
guarantee to the MNTC. In fact, MNTC is the one ensuring
that BCDA could meet its obligations to other parties. On
the other hand, MNTC is provided reasonable profit and
transparent toll-adjustment mechanism and financing
flexibility to deal with the possible risks. The SCTEX toll
road operation is a profitable business venture for MNTC.
By the end of the concession term, the government
shall recover this vital asset and with more maturing traffic,
the government shall have another opportunity to earn for
and to serve our people.
Integrity and Competence. It must be emphasized
that these 4Es must be founded on the underlying twin
imperatives of Integrity and Competence. At the end of the
day, any task must be performed by the right people with the
moral courage to do what is right, in the right manner, in the
right time, at the right cost, and with the right skills.
continued on page 13
5
In the News
BCDA to CJHDevco:
‘Pay P2.6-B debt immediately’
T
he BCDA shrugged off as a “smokescreen” demands by the Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevco)
to comply with certain provisions of their contract, saying on the contrary, it is the Sobrepena-led firm
that owes the BCDA staggering amounts in unpaid lease rentals.
“There is no point threatening us with suspension
of payment, since CJHDevco has not been paying us in the
first place,” the BCDA officials said, adding, “last time we
checked, it is the CJHDevco that owes BCDA P2.6 billion,
and counting. So it (CJHDevco) has to either put up or shut
up.”
“Talking about compliance, it is CJHDevco that must
comply with our series of demand letters for the settlement
of its rental arrears that have been piling up over the past
years,” BCDA President and CEO Arnel Paciano D. Casanova
said.
“Instead of complying with our demands, CJHDevco
merely kept reincarnating the dead issues against the BCDA
in a desperate attempt to evade paying its back rentals,”
Casanova added.
Casanova stressed that the BCDA would not allow
itself to be drawn into an endless debate on the minor
issues raised by CJHDevco. He described CJHDevco as a
“delinquent lessee obviously throwing a smokescreen to
conceal from public scrutiny its own unsettled financial
obligations” arising from the lease contract on Camp John
Hay in Baguio City.
6
He pointed out that CJHDevco has already alienated
itself from the people of Baguio, La Trinidad, Itugon, Sablan,
Tuba and Tublay (BLISTT) particularly the stakeholders on
the John Hay development into a special economic zone,
for deliberately holding back its lease payments.
During a multi-sector consultation meeting
in Baguio City last December 19, 2011, a number of
participants representing the city government and other
stakeholders urged the BCDA to take definitive steps to
collect from CJHDevco.
Baguio gets 25 percent of CJHDevco’s lease
payments, the proceeds of which were earmarked to settle
loans secured from the Government Service Insurance
System used to purchase the Baguio City Convention
Center.
Since CJHDevco has consistently defaulted on
its payments, the city government had to wrestle with
mounting penalties and surcharges imposed by the state
pension fund on the loan, translating into unrecoverable
losses for the city’s taxpayers through no fault of their own.
In the News
BCDA welcomes plans to
develop areas around Clark
T
he BCDA welcomed a call by a Pampanga congressman for the national government to allocate
P10 billion for the full development of areas around the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone
(CFSEZ).
BCDA president and chief executive officer Arnel
Paciano D. Casanova said the development plan broached
by Pampanga Rep. Carmelo Lazatin “sits well with the
BCDA thrust to create a single master plan integrating all
development plans of concerned local government units
(LGUs) along the Subic-Clark corridor.”
Casanova disclosed that the BCDA has reconfigured
its subsidiary the BCDA Management Holdings, Inc.
(BMHI) with a view to putting together a pool of experts
and consultants vital to the fulfillment of its mandate to
transform former baselands and other specific government
properties into key growth centers.
Casanova revealed that the BCDA has allocated a
budget for the masterplan of the entire Clark area.
He noted that it is high time that all concerned LGUs
plan as one in designing their master plans. “This will result
in a more productive co-existence between neighboring
LGUs and the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone
which includes the Clark International Airport,” Casanova
said.
He added that an integrated land use plan will
ensure that the LGUs will complement one another in the
execution of their respective projects, instead of competing
with each other.
“The BCDA, through the BMHI, can provide the
technical expertise to assist the LGUs in drawing their
respective comprehensive land use plans,” Casanova said.
Clark Main Zone Map
7
In the News
BCDA runs after
illegally issued titles on
Bataan Techno Park
T
he BCDA has taken steps to assert its ownership of some 192 hectares of state property
in Morong, Bataan alleged to have been fraudulently given away to private individuals
through the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
The BCDA has filed petitions for the annulment of
coverage with prayer for the cancellation of the Certificates
of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs) issued to at least six
purported groups of farmer-beneficiaries of Republic Act
6657, also known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Law.
The petitions were filed upon instructions of the
BCDA Board of Directors and the President and Chief
Executive Officer Arnel Paciano D. Casanova who want the
properties immediately cleared of illegal claimants to give
way to speedy development of the land as envisioned in
the master development plan for the 356.66-hectare Bataan
Technology Park (BTP), a BCDA-owned and administered
special economic zone. The BTP is being managed by
the Bataan Technology Park, Inc. (BTPI), a wholly-owned
subsidiary of the BCDA.
Casanova stressed that filing of the petitions before
the Office of the Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator
of Bataan is without prejudice to subsequent filing of
administrative and criminal actions against the illegal farmerbeneficiaries and other persons including government
officials involved in the grant of the questionable CLOAs.
Casanova explained that the 192 hectares,
comprising more than one-half of the entire BTP property,
were “erroneously, fraudulently, and arbitrarily” subjected
to the CARP by the Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer
of Morong, upon a false certification of the Community
Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) that
the BTP property is alienable and disposable and therefore,
could be covered by the CARP.
“What is very unusual is the fact that the Bataan
Technology Park built-up portion is part of the area subjected
to the coverage of the CARP. It is neither a farmland nor
part of the government’s agrarian reform program. The big
question is, who were involved in processing and issuing
these CLOAs,” Casanova pointed out.
8
As a result, then Department of Agrarian Reform
(DAR) Secretary Nasser Pangandaman was apparently
misled into issuing the questioned CLOAs which were
eventually registered by the Registrar of Deeds of Bataan.
Cited as private respondents in the petitions were
Erwin Sevilla, Marilou dela Cruz, Noel dela Cruz, Esteban
dela Cruz, Larry Cruz, and Juanito Dare and several others.
While the respondent farmer-beneficiaries might
have been issued CLOAs to the BTP properties, the BCDA
remains in continuous possession of these lots, Casanova
said.
According to Casanova, the BCDA has valid
ownership of the BTP property by virtue of Special Patent
No. 3642 and Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. 0382011000044, declaring the land alienable and disposable,
but only insofar as the BCDA is concerned.
In compliance with the requirement of the DAR
Administrative Order No. 06 Series of 2011 concerning
such cases, the BCDA has posted pertinent notices on the
subject properties.
Casanova warned that BCDA will run after all
persons involved in the issuance of spurious titles and
holders of such over BCDA properties. “We are also
studying the possibility of filing criminal cases against them,”
he added.
Created by RA 7227, the BCDA is mandated by the
government to own, hold and administer military facilities
vacated by the American forces, and baselands within Metro
Manila, as well as the former refugee center in Bataan.
In the News
‘John Hay Consensus’ formed,
set goals for Baguio
urban renewal
A
multi-sectoral development initiative
was born at a broad-based stakeholders
consultative gathering held recently in
Baguio City.
The initiative was called “The John Hay Consensus,”
a movement of well-meaning leaders united by a common
goal to address specific and general issues concerning the
future of Baguio, La Trinidad, Itugon, Sablan, Tuba and
Tublay (BLISTT).
Participating leaders in the meeting agreed that
Camp John Hay (CJH) would play a “pivotal role” in the
long-term preservation of the Cordillera Region’s rich and
diverse culture.
Atty. Arnel Casanova, BCDA President and
CEO, shared with the participants his vision of unifying
all stakeholders for the common goal of renewing the
Cordilleras, bringing back the greenery and restoring
ecological balance in this region of flowers, crops and
strawberries.
Camp John Hay “was rightly cited as the catalyst
for development” in the region, considering the Camp’s
diverse involvements that impact on city, provincial and
regional development, according to Jamie Eloise Agbayani,
President and CEO of John Hay Management Corporation
(JHMC).
Once again, BCDA President Casanova declared
that “under his watch,” the Camp’s development will be
pursued “bearing in mind always the greater interest and
welfare of the local folk in the region.”
“John Hay’s development must manifest its
‘corporate soul’—meaning its master planned development
“is reconfigured in response to the collective sentiment of the
residents of Baguio.” In a manner of speaking, Casanova
added, “the Camp will continually listen to the heartbeat—
and feel the soul—of the city, province and region.”
He invited the participants to keep faith with the new
leaders of JHMC, “ever rekindling the hopes and aspirations
of a greener, cleaner and safer Baguio City and beyond.”
Casanova noted that the 19 conditionalities set
by the Baguio City government in fact addresses social,
environmental and life quality—and “this is right down the
alley of serving our people well.”
John Hay President Agbayani declared that the new
set of officials, led by her, will continue honoring the mandate
to transform the Camp into a haven for tourists, investors—
especially as they commit themselves to transform John
Hay, and then help transform Baguio City and beyond as
“renewed urban centers”.
Dr. Agbayani shared her vision of attracting
information technology service providers to the Camp, and
even unlocking its potentials as a medical and educational
tourism zone, without losing sight of family-oriented sports
and recreational activities.
GREENER,
CLEANER, AND
SAFER BAGUIO.
BCDA President
and CEO Atty. Arnel
Casanova (above)
and JHMC President
CEO Dr. Jamie
Eloise Agbayani
(below) shared their
visions and goals
for Camp John
Hay in a recently
held consultative
gathering in Baguio
City. The said
activity aims to unify
all the stakeholders
towards a firm
and solid thrust
—continuous
development of
Camp John Hay
as a tourism and
investment haven,
the preservation of
the region’s lush
greenery as well as
its rich and diverse
culture.
9
Freeport / Ecozone News
Clark STAR
gets support
CDC Public Relations Department
L
OS ANGELES, California – The proposed
multi-million peso sporting event and
training center inside Clark Freeport
Zone gets a boost as trade representatives in
the United States committed to help promote
the investment potentials of the project.
A report submitted by Noel G. Tulabut, assistant
manager for Public Relations of the Clark Development
Corporation (CDC) states that the proposed Clark STAR
(Sports Training, Amusement and Recreation Center)
project was recently presented to the Philippine Trade
Representative Office (PTRO) in the US.
Tulabut met with Archimedes Gomez, Philippine
Trade Representative for Southern California as part of the
initial promotions for Clark STAR.
“We are just so glad that significant projects at
the Freeport like the Clark STAR is getting much-needed
support by Philippine authorities abroad. This is one big
boost where the end result would be jobs and livelihood for
thousands of our countrymen,” said Tulabut.
“Once all the necessary pertinent information are
in, we could already present the Clark STAR to prospective
10
investors in the US,” Tulabut said, quoting Gomez. The
PTRO is mandated to help bring in investment projects to
the Philippines by US-based companies.
Gomez has initially identified some organizations
and investment houses that could be tapped or urged to take
a look at the potentials of the Clark STAR project.
These include the Council on Trade and Investments
for Filipino Americans and the Vnesto Capital, among others.
“This is one good project and we hope to be able to
help in its promotion and eventual implementation,” Gomez
said.
Clark STAR is a brainchild of CDC President Felipe
Antonio B. Remollo. It is being proposed by CDC to rise in
a 200-hectare land at the Northeast tip of Clark, between
Mabalacat and the Sacobia River. Aside from having a
sports academy and dormitories for athletes, it will have
various stadia for indoor games, field events, and aquatic
sports.
It will also feature a commercial complex, exhibit
halls, convention center, promenade, central park, public
transport terminal and a monorail link system around the
facility.
Remollo said that Clark STAR is also being
presented to National Sports Associations. It has initially
been presented to the Philippine Olympic Committee and
the Philippine Sports Commission.
Once fully developed, Clark STAR could serve as
a replacement to the current training facilities for Filipino
athletes that include the dilapidated Rizal Memorial Complex
in Metro Manila.
Freeport / Ecozone News
SBMA bats for two-point
program to attract more
investors
SBMA Public Relations Department
S
UBIC BAY FREEPORT – The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has disclosed a
two-point program which is expected to put the Subic Bay Freeport in a more competitive
investment position over its Asian neighbors.
In a meeting with executives of the Investment
Promotion Agencies (IPA) composing the Technical
Working Group of the Philippine Investment Promotion Plan
(PIPP), SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia said that he is now
working on two points that will encourage investors to come
in.
The first point, he said, is the rationalization of
investment incentives, which, when approved, will be given
to all investors equally by all investment promotion agencies
in the country.
“Here at the SBMA, we are not allowed to offer
income tax holidays and that is a disadvantage [on our part]
versus the PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority). The
incentives for investors should be the same as with the other
agencies. Otherwise, investors will withdraw their proposals
because we don’t have income tax holidays,” Garcia said.
Second, Garcia said that his administration is
currently working on making the incentives in Subic
competitive with the incentives given in other countries in
the region, specifically Vietnam and Cambodia.
He noted that government investment agencies
should not compete with each other, but with Vietnam and
Cambodia which are now developing their economy faster
than the Philippines does.
According to Garcia, the Philippines’ foreign direct
investment (FDI) last year reached only less than a billion
dollars, while Vietnam made US$4 billion.
“We should take a closer look at what the other
countries are offering, so that we may, at least, have equal
footing,” he said.
which serves as the blueprint in creating a world-class brand
image of the Philippines based on promotional approaches
of image building, and investment generation.
Among those who attended the PIPP meeting
were executives from the Board of Investment (BOI),
Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), SBMA, Clark
Development Corp. (CDC), Cagayan Economic Zone
Authority (CEZA), Regional Board of Investments of the
ARMM, and Authority of Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB).
Garcia told IPA executives that during Pres.
Aquino’s visit to China, it was learned that there were about
US$13 billion worth of potential investment waiting to be
tapped.
“Although they are all merely potential investments,
if we make ourselves competitive, we might be able to get
them all. And they all will be coming to us,” he stressed.
“So, just imagine the multiplier effect of that
(US$13-billion worth of) investment when it would come to
the Philippines. Wow, we would go through the roof,” Garcia
said.
In concluding his address, the SBMA official also
remarked that the Philippines is in a prime position to
compete, and that investment promotion is one of the factors
that can help the country accomplish its economic goals.
“The urgency is already there, and the investors
who are really interested to come to the Philippines are
there. So, all we have to do is to make it happen,” Garcia
said.
IPAs are tasked to formulate and develop strategies
to position the Philippines as among the prime investment
destinations in the world through the creation of the PIPP,
11
In the News
BCDA, JHMC to build
mini-hydro power plant in
JHSEZ property
T
he state-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and its subsidiary in
charge of developing the John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ), the John Hay Management
Corporation (JHMC), will undertake the construction of a mini-hydro power plant that is expected
to generate ample power supply for its current and future locators.
BCDA President and CEO Arnel Paciano D.
Casanova said that both the BCDA and JHMC have yet
to come up with the details to undertake the project
but in principle, the plan to construct the mini-hydro
power plant is sound and will definitely help market the
John Hay Special Economic Zone as the top choice to do
business in the North.
“Having our own power plant that supplies
reliable and uninterrupted electricity will definitely
increase the attractiveness of the JHSEZ to prospective
investors,” Casanova said.
For her part, JHMC President and CEO Jamie
Eloise M. Agbayani said the site where the mini-hydro
plant will be built is on the areas of Camp 6 and Camp 7
which are part of the JHSEZ property.
“The area is around four hectares and
approximately some 20 minutes from Baguio City,”
Agbayani said.
She said the area has an old and abandoned minihydro power plant used by the Americans.
“When the Americans left Camp John Hay in 1991,
the mini-hydro power plant was abandoned and through
the years was cannibalized and now unserviceable,”
Agbayani said.
Agbayani said the old mini-hydro plant can not
be revived anymore. But the area is still very good for
generating hydro power as the natural resources in the
area are ideal. “It will require a new turbine and other
facilities to produce the needed power and water for
irrigation,” she noted.
“We do intend to provide power through
renewable energy which is consistent to a sustainable
development that protects the integrity of the
environment,” she said.
She said, the BCDA and JHMC are now scouting
for prospective investors to build the mini-hydro power
plant.
Agbayani added that the area where the minihydro power plant will be constructed will also have an
eco-tourism park.
Camp John Hay (CJH) will soon have its own mini-hydro power plant that will generate reliable and uniterrupted
power supply for the entire camp.
12
In the News
The 4Es...
from page 4
In the context of public infrastructure implementation
in a developing country beset with corruption and
governance challenges, integrity without competence can
lead to paralysis caused by paranoia. On the other hand,
competence bereft of integrity is a road to total disaster,
plunder and impunity. The worst case is having both corrupt
and incompetent people manage the project. The cases of
failed PPPs in the past were plagued by these problems.
This is vital in PPP because it is a partnership. The
foundation of all partnerships is TRUST. And trust cannot
be generated without integrity and competence. If one or
both partners are corrupt, then, the PPP project becomes
a burden to the people because the cost of corruption will
eventually be passed on to them. This is more burdensome
when it is ODA-financed because of the sovereign
guarantee associated with it. There is a huge moral hazard
whenever the government guarantees a loan because
it may lead to the implementing agency abdicating on its
stewardship role in ensuring cost recovery or sufficiency
in debt service payments. Any default on the debt service
will be a burden to the taxpayers leading to inequity. In the
same way, when one or both parties are incompetent, the
public will be suffering from their inefficiencies.
In our dealing with MNTC, we could not have
succeeded in concluding an agreement if not for the
level of integrity and competence that we have put on the
negotiating table which our private sector counterparts
viewed positively. Our team in BCDA have shown to our
partners a level of integrity, fairness and professionalism
in dealing with them when confronted with difficult issues.
We have gone extra miles in doing our research, crunching
numbers, and always adopted a problem-solving mindset
to grasp fully any obstacle that may come our way and
offer solutions. We required our engineers to understand
project finance and law. We compelled our finance people
to grasp the law and engineering aspects of the agreement.
We guided our lawyers to comprehend financing and
engineering so that they could offer legal solutions that
finance people and engineers could not perceive. Our
Board exemplified these twin imperatives also to shepherd
the agreement to successful conclusion. Hence, a good
team is always essential.
Lastly, the environment of transparency and “doing
the right thing” which President Aquino advocated allowed
us to simply focus on the job of pushing for the best interest
of the country.
With the fast-paced developments around the
world, the synergy of government and the private sector
is necessary. Hence, PPPs are oftentimes the solution
to government and market failures because this is the
opportunity where the strengths of both sectors could
merge to address intractable and complex social problems,
particularly in the area of infrastructure development and
basic services. Whenever that event comes, it would be
helpful to be guided by the 4Es of PPP founded on integrity
and competence both in the public and the private sectors.
New Poro Point
Leadership
B
ases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) Chairman Felicito C. Payumo (right) administers the oath of
office to the newly appointed Poro Point Management Corporation (PPMC) Board Members: (from left) Ambrocio L.
Valero, III; Jorge L. Banal; Elmer Na. Cadano; Louis Funa-Ay Claver, Jr.; Amparo M. Aspiras; PPMC Chairman Ives
Q. Nisce; PPMC President Florante S. Gerdan; Celia V. Guzman; Nicolas R. Tabora; and Mitchel I. Versoza. The PPMC is
the management arm of BCDA for the development of Poro Point Freeport Zone in San Fernando, La Union.
13
In the News
BCDA, JHMC and RMACC ink
Agro-Forestry Management
Agreeement
Ayala Land Technohub at
CJH Opens
14
F
rom Left: Bases Conversion
and Development Authority
(BCDA) President and CEO
Arnel Paciano D. Casanova, Rocky
Mountain Arabica Coffee Company
(RMACC) President Pierre Yves
Cote, John Hay Management
Corporation (JHMC) Chairman of
the Board Silvestre Afable Jr., and
JHMC President and CEO Jamie
Eloise Manzano-Agbayani, M.D.
each hold a pack of John Hay
Coffee after signing an Agro-forest
Management Agreement that would
allow RMACC to develop up to 100
hectares of land within the Camp
John Hay Reservation to plant and
grow Arabica coffee trees. RMACC
intends to plant at least 100,000
coffee trees in Camp John Hay to be
able to produce 300,000 kilograms
of coffee per year of operation.
Premium Arabica coffee from the
BCDA-JHMC areas will be marketed
as John Hay Coffee. RMACC is
a Canadian-based company that
offers coffee company services
all over the world. The JHMC is a
subsidiary of the BCDA.
T
he Ayala Land Technohub
at Camp John Hay was
formally opened and blessed
last October 27, 2011. Gracing the
occasion were Baguio City Mayor
Mauricio Domogan, Ayala Land, Inc.
(ALI) President Antonino Aquino,
Bases Conversion and Development
Authority (BCDA) President and
CEO Arnel Paciano Casanova,
Esq., John Hay Management
Corporation
(JHMC)
President
and CEO Jamie Eloise ManzanoAgbayani, M.D., and Camp John
Hay
Development
Corporation
(CJHDevCo) EVP and COO Alfredo
Yniguez III. Photo shows (from left
to right): Mr. Javi Hernandez – AVP
Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI), Ms. Rowena
Tomelden – ALI VP, Mr. Alfredo
Yniguez III – CJHDevCo EVP and
COO, Mr. Antonino Aquino – ALI
President, Hon. Mauricio Domogan
– Baguio City Mayor, Arnel Paciano
Casanova, Esq. – BCDA President
and CEO, Jamie Eloise ManzanoAgbayani, M.D., and Mr, Tom
Mirasol – ALI AVP.
15
BURGOS CIRCLE
The Burgos Circle, located at the heart of the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig City is Manila’s
newest dining hotspot. Developed by one of the BCDA’s trusted partners, Megaworld Corporation,
Burgos is a haven for yuppies, office workers and shoppers who want to have a little of everything in
one venue.
Burgos Circle is home for various restaurants offering sumptuous cuisine like UCC Cafe, Cantinetta,
Melo’s Steakhouse, Kebab Factory, Basilio’s, Sweet Bella, Uncle Cheffys, Mile-Hi Diner, Henry’s Place
by Good Earth, Rastro and a whole lot more. The famous Johnny Rockets just recently opened its
Burgos Circle branch. Partygoers will enjoy at the Rue Bourbon, Distillery and Bugsys Sports Bar.
Surfers and skaters can find their sporting needs at the Central of Gravity (C.O.G.) and Five-O SKate
Shop while motocross riders can shop at Dainese. Tech-savvy people may visit the Digital Hub Store
also located within the Burgos Circle Area.
Burgos Circle is one of the Megaworld Lifestyle Malls.
source: http://www.burgoscircle.com and http://megaworld.designbluemanila.com