PEZA’s ‘kinetic’ woman

In these times when sacrosanct institutions and men and women never before perceived to be capable of wrongdoing are being scrutinized through a prism and then suddenly found getting failing marks, one finds great comfort that a government official like Lilia de Lima exists. In the 15 years that this lawyer has served as its director general, she has showcased the Philippine Economic Zone (PEZA) as customer-focused, graft-free and a 24/7 investment agency. I believe she is the only presidential appointee who has been asked “to stay on” by three presidents – Presidents Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo — and now, Noynoy Aquino.

Since the organization of PEZA, formerly called Export Processing Zone (EPZA) under RA 7916, or the “Special Economic Zones Act of 1995” which was signed into law by President Ramos and principally authored by then Sen. Macapagal-Arroyo, the agency has remitted P13 billion, or one-half of its earnings, to the government. It has the respect of foreign investors, and recently, became ISO 9001:2008, the seal of good housekeeping. In recognition of her being a moving force, the government of Japan gave her its highest award to a civilian, the European Chamber its “Mother of Pearl” award, and her alma mater MLQ University (law) an honorary doctorate.

BizNewsAsia editor Antonio Lopez calls De Lima the “kinetic energy” behind the agency, triggering “the dramatic movement” of nearly 2000 investor companies and P1.5 trillion worth of investments into the country’s more than 200 economic zones.

De Lima proudly admitted at Tuesday’s Bulong Pulungan that during the period 1995 to 2009, investments in the economic zones totaled P1.5 trillion, an increase of 4,351 percent from the P33.7 billion generated during the period 1981 to 1994. For the first half of this year alone, PEZA registered additional investments of P61.3 billion, a dramatic increase of 58.8 percent from P38.6 billion — despite the devastating effects of global recession.

In 15 years, PEZA created an additional 560,000 jobs (or 37,500 jobs per year), and P363 billion in exports were earned, thanks to 1,908 companies who invested in PEZA after De Lima took over. The PEZA success story has made the Philippines globally competitive in such enterprises as information technology, computer chips and parts, medical equipment, shipbuilding, agricultural plantations, medical tourism, call centers and business process outsourcing. When she took over, the No. 1 export was garments, but now, electronics tops the manufactured export product at 41 percent, followed by base metals, information technology, transportation and car parts.

Shipbuilding is one activity De Lima is proud of. To the surprise of investors, PEZA’s engineers finished building a ship in a few months. Five years after the first ship was built, the 56th ship has been launched. Such feat is on account of PEZA’s having “the best engineers in the world.”

The original EPZA had four government-owned economic zones — Baguio, Bataan, Cavite and Mactan. That number increased from 16 in 1995 to 217 as of end-May 2010 under De Lima’s watch. The companies construct their own buildings, and for doing so, enjoy tax holidays and lower income tax rates. Her policy is that the private sector, not the government, must develop and maintain new ecozones.

De Lima cited as reasons for PEZA’s success good governance (“When investors hear of your graft-free policy, they come and check if that is so, and they decide to stay.”), a one-stop policy (in which investors are provided integrated services such as securing business permits and environmental clearances in 10 days, which took up to six months previously and in other settings), and a no-stop policy (in which services provided by PEZA are available 24 hours, seven-days a week). Strange but true, manufacturers experience no hassles at the Bureau of Customs, but all the imported materials are only for the use of manufacture of products.

She says Filipinos’ virtues have helped win over investors — their caring nature, their ability to speak English.

Another source of pride is how once-lowly, poor communities have sprung to life — with stores and schools, call centers — with the presence of ecozones. The small town of Palupandan, with its ecozone companies, De Lima said, is even more liquid than Cebu City, De Lima said.

A downside is the high cost of electricity, and mere perceptions of poor security and corruption.

The smartly-dressed lawyer has little time for leisure activities, but when she can, she goes out dancing. About romance and marriage, she told this columnist, “I thought you were my friend,” but quickly added, dimples showing on her cheeks, “I’m married to PEZA.”

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To continue last Tuesday’s column on the Women Deliver conference:

At the close of the conference, the delegates’ Call to Action enjoined the executive and legislative branches of government to formulate and advocate the enactment of a national policy on population; private business to invest in such programs as reproductive health and family planning information, and the public and media to support and disseminate information on the Reproductive Health Bill that has now been filed in Congress.

Ben de Leon, president of The Forum for Family Planning & Development Inc., challenged media “to talk about the real situation and what we can do about it. Through this conference we hope to send an even louder message to government that they can no longer ignore our maternal and infant health situation. For every Congress that ends and for every new administration that gets elected without policies and financial investments for women’s health, thousands of lives have been lost. We should not let them get away with this.”

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My icon in reproductive health rights, Rep. Edcel Lagman issued a press statement saying, “No woman should die giving life… All over the world, the least progress has been in the area of reducing maternal mortality and improving maternal health. This mirrors the low status of women in most societies because the goal that specifically targets their health and wellbeing is the one where the commitment of majority of the signatory-countries is at best, faltering and at worst, feeble and half-hearted.” –Domini M. Torrevillas (The Philippine Star)

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My e-mail:dominimt2000@yahoo.com