Subic Port key to Central, Northern Luzon development

CLARK, Pampanga — The forthcoming expansion and modernization of Subic port is seen as the key to the economic development of not only the Subic Bay Freeport zone but the entire Central and Northern Luzon regions.

This assessment came from Clark Development Corporation Chairman Edgardo D. Pamintuan as he cited Subic port as the Clark Freeport Zone's marine counterpart in the northern half of Luzon.

"If Clark is the region's international gateway for airborne commerce, Subic serves that same role for seaborne," Pamintuan pointed out.

"That's the reason why we have this Subic-Clark growth corridor, which serves as the platform for the region's global supply chain."

Pamintuan stressed the importance of such growth corridor to the current global economic situation, where foreign investments and trade have become inter-related and linked by infrastructure requirements.

Infrastructure available in Clark and Subic

"Both foreign and local investors, especially those involved in imports and export-oriented manufacturing, require the types of infrastructure available in Clark and Subic but at the level of capacities that befit their current and future requirements.  In short, they need the element of permanence that are best guaranteed by both physical and policy infrastructure," Pamintuan explained.

"This is particularly so in the Philippines, whose archipelagic nature makes it accessible to the outside world by only air and sea.  We are not part of any Asian continental landmass like the Middle East or even the Mekong sub-region that are accessible by land. Nonetheless, our lack of land access also serves as a natural market filter for the entry of only the high-end foreign tourists," he said.

"Still," Pamintuan pointed out, "it is imperative for our country as an archipelago to beef up its airports and seaports to remain a truly active part of the global supply chain.  Now, for the entire northern half of the Philippines, that role is being served by Clark and Subic through an effective process of infrastructure complementation that contributes to total national employment and generation of gross international reserves."

Unfortunately, the ideal budget for infrastructure development at 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), as cited by vice president Dr. Ronilo Balbieran of the Research, Education and Institutional Development (REID) Foundation, is reportedly far beyond what the government can actually raise.

Infra spending at 10 percent of GDP

Balbieran said infra spending at 10 percent of GDP could push the national economy to the speed of China's phenomenal growth.

"That implies, though, that the other half of the ideal 10-percent infra spending may come from the private sector, which is how the Subic port and other PPP (public-private partnership) projects are best carried out," Pamintuan surmised.

Pointing at Subic on the map of the Philippines, Pamintuan said no other port at the western flank of Luzon could take the place of Subic in terms of its strategic location and security attributes "unless we develop an entirely new freeport zone at Lingayen Gulf because San Fernando Port in La Union is just too small" for the desired scale.

He said port development in Subic, especially by the private sector, would benefit and strengthen, not only this industrial and logistical hub, but also the rest of Central and Northern Luzon, whose combined hectarage could easily exceed those of Singapore (73,430 hectares) and Hong Kong (275,500 hectares) put together (348,930 hectares)

In comparison, Central Luzon alone has a land area of 2.147 million hectares, the Ilocos Region of North Luzon 1.3 million hectares, and the Cagayan Valley over 2.6 million hectares.

Yet, Singapore's total land area of only 73,430 hectares is just 1,578 hectares more than the combined hectarage of Clark and Subic.  However, Singapore's GDP in 2022 amounted to US$466.79 billion or bigger than that of the whole Philippines at US$404.28 billion during the same year.

"The irony here is that Singapore relies mostly, if not solely, on manufacturing, services and trade because of its lack of natural resources, it being an island city state.

Singapore top FDI source

Singapore, in fact, has been the Philippines's top source of FDIs (foreign direct investments) for quite a long while now," stressed Pamintuan.

"Meanwhile, Central and Northern Luzon from both sides of the West Philippine Sea and the West Pacific are a vast confluence or amalgamation of diverse resources, thus making Subic a very strategic sea-based regional gateway for the flow of goods and services that power up national economic expansion.  This logistical gateway can thus help turn the entire northern half of mainland Luzon into another Singapore," said Pamintuan.

"Thus, to view the port of Subic as simply a facility for the freeport's locators is utterly misplaced," he stressed.