Subic-Clark now poised to be a premier Asian logistical base

Under President Gloria Arroyo’s watch, the former US Subic Naval Base and Clark Air Base have developed to become an important part of a premier Asan integrated logistics base. After President Arroyo’s nine years in office, the vast Subic-Clark Corridor has become one of the more important investment havens in the country.

When reelected president in 2004, Mrs. Arroyo, in her inaugural speech, announced that it was one of her 10-point legacy program to achieve the development of Clark and Subic “as a highly competitive international services and logistics center in the Asia-Pacific region.”

The Subic-Clark Corridor stretches over about a hundred thousand hectares of investment-ready prime land, boasting a sea hub (the port of Subic), an air hub (the Clark aviation complex, wherein the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport or DMIA is located), and a land hub (the Central Techno Park in Tarlac).

As early as her assumption of the presidency in 2001, President Arroyo had created a body—the Subic-Clark Development Task Force—to oversee the development of the Corridor into an Asian and global logistics hub.

In 2006, the Task Force evolved into the Subic-Clark Area Development Council, and later on, the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development Council (SCADC).

In a report to the President in April, SCADC said inroads have been made to making the Corridor the most competitive international services and logistics center in this part of the world.

“SCADC has focused on the following three key elements in establishing a logistics and services center: a multimodal transport system, a favorable environment for investors, and room for future expansion,” Edgardo Pamintuan, former chairman of SCADC, said.

“SCADC, together with partner development agencies, has laid down the three primary components of the Corridor’s multimodal transport system that integrates air, sea, and land connectivity to ensure fast, convenient and reliable flow of goods, services, capital and manpower,” he said.

The transport system includes DMIA, which serves as the air gateway of the Subic-Clark Logistics Hub.

“The installation of the $9.987-million Terminal Radar Approach Control [TRACON] facility in 2007 enhanced the safety of all aircraft operations at DMIA in accordance with international aviation standards.
The completion of the P55.9-million DMIA Passenger Terminal Expansion Project in 2008 doubled the terminal capacity from one million to two million passengers annually,” Pamintuan said.

“DMIA has recorded an increase in passenger traffic, which translates to growth in the business and tourism sectors in Clark and spillovers in the rest of the Corridor. Passenger flights hiked by 91 percent from 2001 to 2009, and passenger traffic jumped by 14,240 percent from said periods. At present, DMIA has an average monthly traffic of 265 international and domestic flights serving more than 49,000 passengers per month. Accordingly, cargo flights also increased by 136 percent,” he added.

“Through the expansion of the terminal building and modernization of aviation facilities, DMIA can now assume its new role as the premier gateway of the country,” he noted.

Complementing DMIA is the Corridor’s sea hub—the Port of Subic Bay.

This port recently underwent a P8.04-billion rehabilitation and expansion, which according to Pamintuan, resulted to an increase in both containerized and noncontainerized cargo throughput by 35 percent and 58 percent, respectively.

“The construction of the new Terminals 1 and 2, was completed in 2007 and 2008, respectively. The port now has a capacity of 600,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year, boosting its competitive advantage against other international ports in the Asia-Pacific Region,” Pamintuan said.

For land travel, the Corridor now boasts of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), a 93.77-kilometers long expressway—the country’s longest—which traverses the provinces of Bataan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales, and interconnects three major economic zones in the Corridor: Central Techno Park, Clark Freeport Zone and Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

SCTEx is also interconnected with the Roman Highway in Bataan and the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) in Pampanga. Via SCTEx, the travel time to and from key areas along the Corridor was reduced by about half the time prior the existence of this expressway.

“We have seen a great increase in [SCTEx] traffic volume in 2009.

Roughly, increased traffic count can be translated to tourism growth in the Corridor. With a boost in tourism, there will also be a boost in investment. Potential investors come in the country as tourists, and if they find it business-friendly, their next trip might as well be the opening of their new businesses,” Pamintuan said.

But more than the advances in infrastructure, the SCADC noted that the jump in investments in the region could be mostly attributed to the “implementation of policies and regulations that have made it easier to do business in the freeports, and harmonized immigration, customs and quarantine procedures.”

“The new Business Registration System [being implemented in the Corridor] allows for the issuance of a business permit to Subic-Clark investors within 14 days from date of application, or eight days for 30-day temporary business permit. Before, an average of 10 steps and an average of 12 signatures are required before a business permit can be issued. Now, with the streamlined procedures, steps were cut by half, and signatures were limited to four. Very soon, we shall implement the automation of the system which will streamline the process further,” Pamintuan said.

“SCADC also introduced the New Alien Employment, Work Permit, and Visa Program to enable locators and investors inside Clark and Subic to start immediately with their business operations by providing them with an easier and more convenient procedure in bringing in their technically qualified workforce. Before, work permit and visa processing time took an average of seven days, with an average cost of $150. But with the new Subic-Clark Work Permit and Visa System, all visas and permits are expected to be released in not more than 16 working hours from time of application, with an average cost of $75,” he added.

“SCADC also initiated the e-TAPS or the Electronic Transit and Admission Permit System, which simplified the Customs Admission procedures by reducing the time, the process and the cost of obtaining an import permit. With just a click of the button and without leaving the comfort of their offices, our locators can now obtain their import permits. From four days to just two minutes, six signatures to zero, six step-process to only one, and from P175 processing fee to just P55 translates to more benefits for the locators.”

“Thus, we can proudly say that the Subic-Clark Corridor has moved from the shadows of despondent underdevelopment to an era of vibrant economic activity that has emphasized once more the strategic importance of the Philippines in the community of nations . . . . So much has been accomplished in the Subic-Clark Corridor towards the goal of creating a logistics and service gateway, that even the staunchest critics of the President have conceded this point, even if grudgingly,” Pamintuan said. –BEN ARNOLD O. DE VERA REPORTER, Manila Times