NOT in full blast yet. Just like most businesses all over the world, Clark Freeport and its many locators are still reeling the effects of the pandemic which is now in its second year. Unless the veerus will vanish in thin air, expected sliced or lost incomes will still be the bottom line figures in the balance sheets. In May last year, that will be 2020, I asked in this space when will Clark Freeport be back in groove. I am curious what’s happening in the board room of Clark Development Corporation, whose officials now are mostly former military people since financial whizz kid Noel Manankil resigned as president few months back and followed by its board chairman former Department of Transportation and Communication Secretary Jose Ping De Jesus and key officials.
These former men in uniform and civilian colleagues must be crunching numbers now and are strategizing. In the last few years CDC was earning billions of pesos out of the collected rentals. But since the outbreak, business operations inside the freeport slowed down. It might be recalled the very busy freeport was almost a ghost town in the early weeks of the pandemic. The once busy streets which in rush hours created a bumper to bumper traffic situation became quiet. The golf courses, hotels and casinos, restaurants, manufacturing and industrial plants cut down on activities.
Before the pandemic, there were around 1,200 locators inside the Freeport employing some 140 thousand workers. I don’t know now how many. There are no figures yet released by CDC. I remember when Pampanga was relaxed from Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) there were certain businesses which were allowed limited operation. Slowly things started to move but in snail pace but many businesses already fell victims from the unseen enemy.
Bases Conversion and Development Authority President Vince Dizon and former President Noel Manankil took charge faced multifarious problems in their hands. The problem was not that simple. The discussions may be how to be able to cope up with the losses, not only of jobs but also revenues. I remember asking Manankil, what will happen to businesses which closed operations, with zero income and have to contend with their lease payments. Is CDC management considering the possible condonation of rentals in the meanwhile that most business houses particularly those in the small and medium scale enterprises (SME)? His answer then was no. According to him the least that can be extended will be a moratorium and later payment of all back rentals through installment basis. Maybe now current CDC President Manny Gaerlan can supply the answer.
In the early months, hotels and restaurants stopped operations because of the tight screening in all gate entrances of the Freeport. It was easier then to enter Malacanang palace than entering the freeport. In short closed for several months and with almost zero income the expenses mounted. This will include maintenance, salaries of skeletal force, payments for power and water bill and the monthly rentals. When can businesses return to normal operations inside the freeport, it may take long because up to this writing, President Duterte’s promise that the country will achieve herd immunity by the year end is suntok sa buwan. Presently, we haven’t achieved yet one percent in the inoculation.