Duterte abolishes First Cavite Industrial Estate

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the abolition of state-run First Cavite Industrial Estate,  Inc. (FCIEI), saying it was no longer serving its purpose.

Duterte made the decision under Memorandum Order 62 which cited that FCIEI was initially formed to develop the National Development Company (NDC) property in Dasmariñas, Cavite into an industrial estate and economic zone and have sold all saleable lots within such estate to locators in 1995.

The memo noted that in compliance with the GOCC Governance law, the Governance Commission for Government Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCCs) has recommended the abolition of the FCIEI upon determining the following:

? its original purpose is no longer relevant to the State
? it is no longer achieving the objectives and purposes for which it was originally designed and implemented
? it is not cost efficient
? it is dormant and non-operational; and
? it is involved in an activity best carried out by the private sector;

"The FCIEI is hereby abolished. The assets of the FCIEI shall be liquidated to settle the outstanding liabilities of the corporation, in accordance with applicable laws, rules and regulations," the memo read.

"The remaining assets and/or liabilities of the FCIEI shall be assumed by its parent company, the NDC," it added.

The memo also created a Technical Working Group to effect the abolition which will be composed of the Governance Commission for GOCCs,  NDC and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

The TWG will have the following functions:

? settle  the  liabilities  of  the  FCIEI,  undertake  steps  necessary  in the liquidation of its assets, and assist in the winding-up of its corporate affairs;
? oversee the transfer of the remaining government functions of the FCIEI to concerned agencies;
? submit to the Office of the President a quarterly report on the disposition of the assets of the FCIEI, and the implementation of its abolition; and
? perform such other functions  as may be necessary to implement this Order.

The TWG will then submit an initial status report within 30 days from the effectivity of the memo.

The memo also invoked that FCIEI's abolition was already recommended by government authorities in 2015 after an FCIEI development project did not materialize, provided that FCIEI's liabilities, particularly to the PEZA, are settled.

The FCIEI and PEZA eventually inked a memorandum of agreement in March 2016 which provides for partial settlement of the former to the latter.

The respective Board of Directors of the NDC and the FCIEI then approved the proposed dissolution of the company.

The Governance Commission for GOCCs, however, only ordered the deactivation of the FCIEI last December 2021.—LDF, GMA News