The recent ruling by the Supreme Court to compel the Subic Bay Management Authority (SBMA) to award Reghis Romero II's Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. its P5.5-billion deal for the development, operation, and management of several ports inside the former US naval base is a game-changer for Subic Freeport. This decision not only recognizes the duty of the court to hold public counterparts accountable but also acknowledges the increasing role of private sector entities in development and economic growth.
With this ruling, the Subic Freeport can expect a surge of opportunities and advancements. The development, operation, and management of several ports by Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. will bring in significant investments and create job opportunities for the local community. It will also attract more businesses and stimulate economic growth in the area.
For years, Reghis Romero II has been advocating for the bright future of Subic Freeport. He has attended various fora and events, spreading his vision for economic prosperity. Most recently, he served as a guest speaker in the induction ceremony of the Central Luzon Media Association-Pampanga chapter at the New Hilltop Mimosa+ Clark.
Reghis Romero II's foresight is encapsulated in his speech before the CLMA-Pampanga, to wit:
“More than ever, we realize that our region, the Central Luzon region continues to be in the beltway of national development. Of the 7.6% economic growth in the country in 2022, Central Luzon contributed to the increase with 0.9% point, accounting for 11.0% of the total GDP.
“Early this year, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that Central Luzon ranks third among the regions with the fastest growing economy in the Philippines. This is substantiated by National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA} Regional Director Nerrisa Esguerra by citing the importance of the Philippine Development Plan and the Central Luzon Regional Development Plan 2023-2028 in economic growth as these are designed to bring about economic and social transformation.
“Director Esguerra explained and I quote: ‘To further propel Central Luzon's economic growth, there is a need to continue expanding collaboration with the private sector to strengthen infrastructure development, aid resiliency, improve connectivity, and pursue human capital development.’
“Director Esguerra is therefore affirming the pivotal role of the private sector in national development.
Real Estate and infrastructure development like housing projects, building of hotels, and commercials centers by the private sector pave the way for progress. Then this has to be complemented by an efficient road network system and massive connectivity undertakings like airports and seaports. Here in Central Luzon, the seaport that has the best potential is the Subic Seaport.
“For its part, the Philippines Statistics Authority shared that Central Luzon's economic performance is brought by the increase in its three major sectors affecting the Gross Regional Domestic Product or GRDP.
“The Services sector, which accounts for 46.3% of the GRDP, contributed a growth of 4.1%.
Top contributors under this sector were wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles with 26.4% share; professional and business services with 12%; and real estate, ownership, and dwellings with 11%.
“Meanwhile, the Industry sector, accounting for 42.5% of the GRDP, grew at 3.8%.
Its top contributors were manufacturing with 63.9% share; construction with 27.6%; and electricity, steam, and water management with 7.6%.
“Likewise, the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Sector, which contributed 11.2% to the GDP, had a 0.2% from a 6% decline in the previous year.
Under this sector, crops accounted for 39.8% share; livestock and poultry for 30.2%; and fishing at 17.6%.
“As mentioned by Director Esguerra, private sector's role in the economic growth of Central Luzon can not be under-estimated. It is the moving force to make the region's economy grow even faster and steadier.
“Allow me to share with you that this year, the Supreme Court has issued its decision with finality on the proposal of Harbour Centre Port Terminal, Inc. to operate the Subic Ports which have long been left untapped or optimized. The facilities have deteriorated and its great potential to bring in the needed economic development stagnated.
“The Supreme Court ruling has finally put into motion the long-overdue development operations of the Subic ports. As in the words of another cabalen, CDC Chairman Ed Pamintuan in one of his interviews that came out of the national broadsheets in September, and I quote: ‘Still, it is imperative for our country as an archipelago to beef up its airports and seaports to remain a truly active part of the global supply chain. Now, for the entire northern half of the Philippines, that role is being served by Clark and soon, with the Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. to operate Subic ports, an effective process of infrastructure complementation that contributes to total national employment and generation of gross international reserves will happen.
“For it is true, if Clark is the region's international gateway for airborne commerce, Subic serves the same role for seaborne. This Subic-Clark growth corridor serves as the platform for the region's global supply chain and the rest of country as well.
“You will recall that on April 5, 2005 the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway or SCTEX was constructed under JICA-Japan funding. On April 28, 2008, it was fully operational. What we have now is the country's longest expressway at 93.77 kilometers which cut short travel time from 45 minutes to 25 minutes. Of course, we are now reaping the benefits it brings to our daily life and more importantly, to trade and commerce.
“The bonus is being able to enjoy the view along the way—a whole stretch of mountain forest, valleys, rivers and agricultural land.
“As the Chairman of Harbour Port Terminal, Inc., let me give you a rundown of what the full-scale improvement of the Subic port facilities and resumption of operations will do to Central Luzon and the rest of the country:
“One, the Philippines as the most strategic location for supply chain and logistics in South East Asia will be given impetus. And within the Philippines, Subic is the most strategic location for port operations. This is why the US Military chose to build a naval base there. With the logistics infrastructure established by the American Government in Subic, combined with the geographic advantages of Subic as a port (deep-sea port that can handle the largest of vessels in the world), Subic is the port of choice outside NCR to push immediate and accelerated growth.
“Two, the economies of Philippine regions will expand. The development and modernization of the Subic Bay port will unlock the massive economic potentials and further fuel the faster economic growth of all the Philippine regions north of the National Capital Region.
“Currently, the regions of Ilocos, Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan Valley, and the Central Luzon account for 18% of the total Gross Domestic Product of the country, adding 3.9 trillion pesos to the national economy just for 2022.
“Furthermore, in the last 2 years, all these regions have grown faster than the growth of Metro Manila, and faster than the growth of the entire nation. With larger investments in expansion and digitalization, the Subic Ports can further ignite domestic and international trade to and from Luzon, that will expand the economy of Northern Luzon regions even faster.
“Three, transport seamlessness and logistics efficiency will be boosted. With the Philippines as an archipelagic country with 7,641 islands, it faces great logistics challenges, with one of the highest logistics costs in Southeast Asia with more than 20% of sales, while Thailand only has around 11%, as reported by Department of Trade and Industry and the World Bank.
A large part of the solution to high logistics costs is the expansion and digitalization of the Subic Port, which can bring down the logistics costs not just for the businessmen in Northern Luzon, but also for the rest of the Philippines.
“Four, more Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) will come. With manufacturing and services locators directly adjacent with the ports, the development of the port facilities and the entire economic zone can increase the attractiveness of the Philippines for FDIs. In my missions as Special Envoy of the President to Japan, I was told by investors that modern and state-of-the-art port facilities are what they need to locate their manufacturing plants here.
“And five, attracting tourists will be a breeze. The Subic Bay is not just a commercial hub but also a tourist destination. Modernizing the ports, the facilities, and the services of the Freeport Zone can attract cruise ships, luxury liners, and even by-land tourism catering to various tourism activities from leisure, educational, religious, and most especially for local and international meetings conventions that require large capacities of tourism establishments which can all be provided by Subic and Clark.
“Yet unexplored are the beautiful churches in our province. In Angeles City, we have the Apu Mamacalulu Shrine that bespeaks of miracles that many attest to. Isa na po ako dun. Then you have the Santa Rita de Cascia church built in 1726 from where devotees claim impossible petitions have materialized, and, of course the St. James the Apostle church in Betis-Bacolor, Pampanga, dubbed as the "Sistine Chapel of the Philippines". All these religious landmarks will be experienced by more when tourism is enhanced by a seaport in our area.
“Currently, the regions north of NCR, receive around 10% of the foreign tourist arrivals, and around 20% of the total domestic tourism of the Philippines. The investments in the Subic Freeport Zone will attract more tourism activities and boost economic activities, and will further push investments in manufacturing and services that will cater to the direct and indirect needs of foreign and domestic tourists. The investments would be very timely as tourism activities around the world are starting to pick up, and the Philippines can capitalize on this by providing competitive destinations, brought about by these new investments.
“The Subic port, which has long needed improvements to become a truly world-class infrastructure worthy of being called an international gateway to and from the northern half of mainland Luzon and a reliable contributor to the economy of the entire archipelagic Philippines is the needed shot-in-the-arm of our regional and national economy.
“The complementation between Subic and Clark will bring in benefits. Air freight is for Clark while ocean freight is for Subic, thus creating an economic growth corridor in NorthPhil (Northern Philippines) that has largely necessitated the construction of the SCTEX (Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway).
“Taken together as twin economic zones and investment hubs, Subic and Clark now constitute a logistical growth corridor serving and encompassing NorthPhil's four regions of llocandia, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera and Central Luzon, which the Department of Tourism has
consistently promoted as nature's mall of diverse attractions from ridge to reef, from east to west, and from shore to shore. This public-private promotional effort is showcased by the yearly North Phil Expo held mostly in Clark, Pampanga.
This is why the SCTEX is connected to or interlinked with all of NorthPhil's other superhighways such as the NLEX (North Luzon Expressway), CLLEX (Central Luzon Link Expressway), and TPLEX (Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway).
“Seaports support industries by making goods across oceans and seas available locally, making business possible between and among cities, towns, provinces, regions, countries and continents across the entire world.
“Through such trade and commerce, not only products and money change hands but also precious information, knowledge and technology, making way for the global flow of people, capital and various forms of investments that create wealth.
“Most importantly, the members of the entire supply chain become aware of the level of marketability of their products and services, thus generally promoting and increasing national and global competitiveness.
“All in all, port activities speed up the velocity of money, or the number of times and the rate of speed that a certain amount of currency change hands to benefit as many number of people as possible within a given time, thus rendering a multiplier effect on an economy at a much larger scale than the port itself. Thus, the Subic port development is a key step in the right direction.”
Romero was right. The development and modernization of the Subic ports will not only benefit Subic Freeport but also have a ripple effect on the entire region. It will expand the economies of Philippine regions, boost transport seamlessness and logistics efficiency, attract foreign direct investments, and enhance tourism activities.
The ruling by the Supreme Court has set the stage for Subic Freeport to become a world-class infrastructure and an international gateway for trade and commerce. The complementation between Subic and Clark will create a logistical growth corridor that will fuel economic growth and bring about numerous benefits for the region and the country as a whole. The development of the Subic ports is indeed a crucial step in the right direction for regional and national economies.