Friday, November 30, 2007 Foreign investors in Porac assured of fair treatment
ANGELES CITY -- A councilor of Porac has assured that foreign investors are welcome in the town and that their businesses will be treated fairly.
Councilor Silvestre David said local government officials of Porac headed by Mayor Rogelio Santos are drawing up plans to make Porac town attractive to investors.
David said this in reaction to reports that some Koreans are now hesitant to put up businesses in Angeles City in the wake of reports that a Korean was arrested and handcuffed after city officials served a closure order issued by Mayor Francis Nepomuceno against a hotel recently. The report that the establishment had been operating without necessary permits later turned out to be false.
According to David, this unfortunate incident in Angeles City would not be resorted to in Porac town, which values the investments of foreigners in legal businesses.
David said the municipality which has vast unutilized lands located on the slopes of Mt. Pinatubo can be a perfect site for tourism projects such as resorts, light manufacturing industries and agricultural production.
David, chairman of the City Council committee on agriculture, said Porac has thousands of hectares of farmlands that can be leased at definitely lower costs for tourism, large-scale farming and other industries.
He noted that because of the peaceful atmosphere and the hospitality of Porac's people, Koreans have also spilled over and now live in some barangays of Porac.
He said Koreans have also established their own village in Barangay Paralaya, just a few minutes away from this city.
Some Koreans here have harbored fears of being arrested without any reason like Patrick Kim who, together with his wife, invested in Westin Palace Hotel.
They said the arrest caused undue embarrassment and humiliation to Kim and the Korean business community who have considered Angeles City their home.
Koreans expressed sympathy to Kim because he was arrested as a result of false reports submitted to Nepomuceno.
Kim was handcuffed and arrested by police who were invited by Humberto CJ Tayag, executive director of the Business Establishments Monitoring and Regulatory Compliance Office (Besmorco) in serving a closure order issued by Nepomuceno.
It was learned that Kim who has been in the country for over 10 years and is vice president of the Korean community here which has been instrumental in attracting their country men into investing and providing employment in the city. (DMF)
