Downtowns and Urban Centers

[LordCarnal]

House committee approves ecozone bill

A BILL which seeks to make Cebu a province-wide economic zone (ecozone) was approved by the economic affairs committee of the Lower House on Thursday.

Cebu City North District Rep. Raul Del Mar said House Bill (HB) 1319, which was on its second hearing, was approved by the 35-member committee chaired by Rep. Ramon “Red” Durano of the 5th district.

“The bill will have to go through the appropriations and ways and means committee because of its tax provisions,” Del Mar told reporters at yesterday's general membership meeting of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).

Del Mar was former president of the CCCI.

He said that while the bill is moving in Congress, members of the CCCI ecozone advocacy group will hold a series of consultations with local officials, including city and municipal mayors and the governor, to discuss the bill.

“The consultation is in preparation for the plenary discussion in Congress. We don't want to go to the plenary without the support of the local government units (LGUs),” he said.

Del Mar said they plan to meet Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to discuss specific provisions of the bill.

Osmeña earlier said that establishing a province-wide ecozone will mean revenue losses for LGUs.

HB 1319 seeks to declare Cebu as an economic development zone and create the Cebu Economic Development Zone Authority (Cedza) as the ecozone's administrator.

The bill, signed by all of Cebu's eight congressmen, was filed July 2007.

To ensure the approval of the bill, CCCI formed an ecozone advocacy group to look into the organizational structure of Cedza, its startup operation expenses, and the ecozone's effects on existing ecozones and IT parks.

Outgoing CCCI president Francis Monera said the study group is expected to release the results of its study before the end of March.

Monera said the proposed ecozone will ensure the continuous development of Cebu. He said the bill provides incentives to infrastructure providers.

“One of China's provinces, Hainan, was able to progress rapidly because the entire province is an ecozone. Establishing an ecozone will help us move faster because it will give us autonomy,” he said.

“We have drivers of growth here which are global in nature,” he said referring to tourism, information and communication technology, as well as small and medium enterprises which produce goods for export.

[LordCarnal]

Mactan showed the way

Started in 1979, the 150-hectare Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ I) is located near the waterfront of Mactan island and strategically accessible via the seaport and the Mactan International Airport. It currently hosts more than a hundred companies from a wide range of industries – from electronics and computers to metals and precision instruments, from chemicals to garments and furniture.

Factories inside the MEZ I churn out watches (TMX Phils.), cameras (Asahi Pentax, Olympus), stylish furniture (Maitland Smith), diodes/transistors (Fairchild Semiconductors), that find their way in export markets, mostly in Japan and the United States. Proof of how successful the economic zone program has been the development of the 63-hectare Mactan Economic Zone II (MEZ II), privately developed however (Aboitiz Land), that attracted some 42 locators. Combined employment of MEZ I and MEZ II account for some 43,000 jobs, infusing some P300 million a month to Cebu’s local economy. Directed towards manufacture-for-exports, locators inside MEZ I and II are entitled to income tax holidays and duty-free importation of equipment, among other incentives – as mandated by the Special Economic Zone Act of 1995 (Republic Act 7916).

Today, there are six other economic zones and industrial parks following the success of the Mactan ecozones. What’s more, these industrial parks are spread across the province, according to a masterplan for managing economic development in Cebu. MEZ I and II and the Cebu Light Industrial Park are located in Mactan island, the New Cebu Township in Naga, in the northern part of the province, the West Cebu Industrial Park in Balamban, the western part of Cebu in Balamban, and the Cebu Asia Town IT Park. The Miranila Economic Zone is a 2,800-hectare property being developed in Aloguinsan and Barili, South of Cebu.

The private sector manages and develops all of the above except for the Cebu South Reclamation Project. The Cebu City government is developing the 300-hectare prime property development on reclaimed land just a few meters off the coast of the Cebu central business district. PEZA-registered as a special economic zone, locators at the Cebu South can avail of special incentives. The Japanese investors, who own more than half of Cebu’s top export firms, are funding the project cost of P3 billion, through the Japan Bank International Cooperation (JBIC). They also funded the adjacent Cebu Coastal Road, a four-lane, 12-kilometer highway built to ease traffic in the city. Starting this year, the Cebu South will be ready for occupancy and both manufacturing and service industries are welcome. A great come-on for locators, aside from the guaranteed sound infrastructure done by the Japanese is the proximity of the central business district and the international port (ten minutes away) and the International Airport (30 minutes).

[LordCarnal]

'Too many ecozones'
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb...ecozones..html

A CEBUANO congressman fears the request by many local government units (LGUs) in the country for special economic zone accreditations would lead to stiffer competition and put off potential investors.

“There are too many applications for economic zone accreditations, even by some areas that are not yet ready,” said Rep. Ramon “Red” Durano VI (Cebu, fifth district). “Instead of luring locators to the economic zone, these areas may end up competing with each other,” he added.

In an interview with reporters, Durano, who is also the chairman of the House committee on economic affairs, admitted that there are “gray areas” in Republic Act 7916, also known as the Special Economic Zone Act of 1995, as it provides two ways to obtain economic zone accreditation.

One way is to seek accreditation from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) while the other is through legislation.

Durano said that at present, the economic-enterprise committee, which manages all economic zone applications, is “informally” adopting the criteria set by Peza in screening applicants.

17 bills

He said there are now 17 bills for legislated economic zones pending in the Lower House, including the recently endorsed House Bill 1319, the proposal for a province-wide economic zone in Cebu.

The bill, also known as the Cebu Economic Development Zone (CEDZ) bill, was filed by Cebuano Reps. Raul del Mar, Antonio Cuenco, Eduardo Gullas, Pablo Garcia, Benhur Salimbangon and Nerissa Soon-Ruiz.

Durano said a major issue related to the CEDZ proposal is the problem on monitoring the influx of goods and commodities into the proposed Cebu free port as this could worsen smuggling in the province.

“(But) I think there will not be any big problem because despite (Cebu becoming) a free port, there is only one major international airport and one major international seaport in (the province),” he said. He added that he is optimistic that LGUs will be able to monitor the port areas.

Flagship

Considered as the flagship project of Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), the CEDZ aims to make Cebu a “self-sustaining, industrial, commercial and investment center that will put in place a wide-reaching employment and investment generation mechanism.”

The CEDZ study group is expected to finish its second study on the economic zone project within the first quarter of this year.

Gerry Sta. Ana, who heads the CCCI committee on the Cebu economic zone proposal, earlier said the second study will be more detailed and will focus on “loose-ends” in the previous study. It will look into figures showing how the economic zone concept can propel Cebu’s economic growth and identify strategies to increase revenues of LGUs in the province. (MMM)

[c0kelitr0]

Originally Posted by ofw_cebu

isn't it the plan of CCCI to make Cebu a separate country in the far long future and be independent and progressive as Singapore??? suntok sa buwan ba??

it might go through a civil war first and win it.

[animasola]

As much as I hate the people who ridicule and belittle Cebuanos and Cebu as a whole, I wouldn't want Cebu to cede from the Philippines yet.

[federalist]

if not a separate country, at least Federal form of Government would push through.

[Mercato]

hala... kasagaran ra ba sa mga nag-federal nangadato jud. Belgium Austria Switzerland Germany Canada. ipadayon ang pakigbisog...

Translation: Hala, usually those who have gone federal became rich. Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Canada. Let us continue the fight.

[iloilocitykid]

List the cities / places that you know how or at least have an idea on how to get yourself around with:

Mine:
Iloilo City
Koronadal City
Bacolod City
Caloocan City
Quezon City


List yours...

[Manila-X]

Do they have to be in The Philippines?

[WawaY[625]]

Davao and Metro Manila (except the residential areas and southern part i.e Muntinlupa)

[kiretoce]

Any city (anywhere in the world) with a reliable and convenient public transportation system can be easily navigated, even for non-residents.

[WawaY[625]]

sabagay, dito sa singapore ilang araw lang medyo gamay ko na ang pagbbyahe

pero dito ko narealize di pala ganun kagaling ang sense of direction ko (or baka iba lang talaga system dito) kasi sa pinas mapa saang city ako gets ko kung saan ang north south etc..i rarely get disoriented..kumbaga alam ko saan papunta ang daan na para bang may mapa ako sa utak pero dito iba talagang di ko ma gets lalo na pag sa mga residential areas (siguro dahil sa mga magkamukhang "commie" blocks) buti na lang efficient ang bus and mrt dito

[habagatcentral1]

Metro Manila (mostly of major and secondary [and not city] thoroughfares).
Metro Cebu (Cebu City, Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City, Cordova, Consolacion, Talisay City)
Davao City (downtown area, Matina, Ecoland, Mintal)
Iloilo City and MIDC (Metro Iloilo Dev't Council Area)
Bacolod City
General Santos City
Koronadal City, South Cotabato
Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat

What I like about small and medium sized cities is that most of the areas are very easy to access. To "tricycle cities," it wouldn't be a problem for as long as the tricycle driver knows what street or landmark will be your destination.

[Wind Shear]

Iligan City, Cagayan de Oro City, Ozamis City, Tangub City, Tagbilaran City, Cebu City, Manadue City, Lapu-Lapu City, and Talisay City, Cebu.

[Sinjin P.]

All the cities I've been to.

[tj_brewed]

Makati City
Pasig City
Bonifacio Global City <<< considered ba to?
Eastwood City <<< eto rin
Cebu City
Mandaue City
Lapu Lapu City
Davao City
Tagum City

[WawaY[625]]

SM City Davao

[Waldenstrom]

Cities where I lived:
Makati City
City of Manila
Quezon City
& all other Metro Manila cities esp. the south, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa
Tagaytay City

[rage@cebu]

metro manila, metro cebu, subic, olongapo city, city of san fernando, san fernando city, dagupan city, baguio city, laoag city, vigan city, cotobato city, dipolog city, cagayan de oro city, dumaguete city, bacolod city, bayawan city...

[michael_ray]

metro cebu and new york city.