Arroyo visits Cagayan free port, but silent on used car importation row

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo admitted that she visited the controversial Cagayan Economic Zone (CEZ) in Santa Ana, Cagayan, Wednesday but kept mum on the issue of used car importation there. "….In Port Irene. Yesterday (Wednesday) I went to the Cagayan Economic Zone. I went to Sta. Ana and I saw there, thousands of jobs have been created in that Cagayan Economic Zone that I visited yesterday (Wednesday)," Mrs Arroyo said before the Local Peace and Security Assembly in Tuguegarao City. The President visited the CEZ days after the American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) noted in its report that state agencies have failed to enforce the import ban on used vehicles at the free port, specifically Port Irene. AmCham members said that importation of second-hand vehicles was illegal and “in their opinion" was against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s anti-smuggling campaign. CEZA administrator Jose Mari Ponce, however, claimed that the economic zone in Cagayan is not covered by the EO 156, which a Supreme Court ruling in November 2007 found “final and executory." CEZA’s claim that EO 156 only covered the Subic Bay Freeport was the basis for earlier filing a motion before a regional trial court in Aparri, Cagayan, questioning the executive order. Mrs Arroyo said she was satisfied by the progress of the development of the Cagayan free port, which she lauded as the best eco-tourism hub and Cyber Park in northeastern Philippines. "This is a good place. Very good," she told free port officials led by Ponce, Sun City Chairman Chau Check Wa, Sun City Group CEO Pang Hon Kwong, Group President Bong Cuevas, Group CFO Lee Chi Shing Cesar, when she inspected two of the 320 villas of the leisure resort. The area is an ideal site for eco-tourism activities set amid serene and pleasurable landscape. Sports enthusiasts can also look forward to a host of indoor and outdoor sports activities, including game fishing, watersports and the like, its brochure claimed. "This is OK. You've done a good job," the President told Ponce as she instructed him to encourage schools in the area to include in their curriculum business process outsourcing (BPO) to further boost the free port's economic viability while creating new jobs for the people in the area. The cyber park under development sits on a 10-hectare property with a state-of-the–art internet data center with fiber optic system. When completed, it is expected to generate some 3,5000 new jobs. Ponce, in a press release, said she informed the President that CEZA will tie up with the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for language instructions in English, Mandarin, Nipponggo, Latin, Spanish, Fookien and Cantonese. An international airport, with 1,500–meter runway will also rise in the CEZA. The air facility is designed to accommodate 100 to 120 airline passengers. The proposed international airport is a joint venture of the CEZA and a private group. The preliminary site development for the airport is now on going, while the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is doing the pre-feasibility study of the air terminal. CEZA also plans to construct additional hotels, golf courses and retirement villas. The 250-meter breakwater, now under construction, is scheduled to be completed this November. The rehabilitation of the road system in the area, including the 10.5-kilometer San Vicente-Gotar-Lubok-Anguib access road, is also set to be finished this year. Ponce expressed hope that the development of the Cagayan Freeport will be completed by 2010. Also present during the President's visit here were Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Cagayan Governor Alvaro Antonio and Sta. Ana Mayor Norberto Victor Rodriguez. Managed by the CEZA, the Cagayan Freeport is one of the flagship projects of the Philippine government. It is envisioned to be a major trade transshipment point in the Asia-Pacific rim. The CEZA is empowered to operate, directly through license, joint venture or lease, various tourism and gaming-related activities such as casinos, horse racing, dog racing, and all forms of gaming without having to pass through any national government agency.- GMANews.TV