Bulacan EcoZone sees to generate $200-B in export revenue

The newly enacted Republic Act No. 11999, or the Bulacan Special Economic Zone and Freeport Act (BEZA), is expected to generate a whopping $200 billion in export revenue, an economist-lawmaker said Friday.

The law, known as the “Bulacan EcoZone,” lapsed on 13 June and was only made public on Friday. Congress passed it in mid-March after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vetoed its earlier version on his second day in office on 2 July 2022.

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, the principal author and sponsor of the law in the House of Representatives, posits that its enactment will help the country with a boosted gross domestic product of at least P130 billion annually and land value gains of around P226 billion.

“That will create massive revenue gains in income taxes and property taxes, so the foregone revenue from tax incentives will get offset,” Salceda, chairperson of the House committee on ways and means, said.

In addition, Salceda forecasted that the country would see a wave of logistics investments in the Bulacan EcoZone, whose area has historically been underinvested, even before the airport is completed.

“Bulacan Airport will be the biggest investment ever made in the Philippines. You have to surround it with a well-planned ecozone. You can build export industries around it because airports are now the world’s fastest ports of entry for goods. Electronics exports thrive around airports. Imagine Mactan but on steroids,” he pointed out.

Salceda and Senate Grace Poe, the sponsor of the bill in the upper chamber, are keen that Bulcan EcoZone would spur foreign investments and generate up to 800,000 to 1.2 million jobs for Filipinos outside of the capital.

Economic gains from the Bulacan EcoZone could likewise reach P130.9 billion, according to Poe.

Salceda, meanwhile, is optimistic that the Bulacan Ecozone is a chance for the Philippines to get urban planning right, citing the longstanding plight of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the country’s main gateway.

“NAIA was a mess. It should not be where it is. We did not build an industrial base around it or plan transport and logistics. As a result, it does not realize its industrial potential and is a bane on the traffic and congestion situation in Manila,” he lamented.

The Bulacan EcoZone will host the New Manila International Airport in Bulacan province and will cover the surrounding cities of Malolos and Meycauayan and the municipalities of Marilao, Bocaue, Balagtas, and Sta. Maria, Guiguinto, Paombong, Obando, and Bulakan.

The BEZA, meanwhile, is mandated to establish the general framework for land use, planning, and development for the area covered by Bulacan EcoZone, consistent with the government's Philippine Development Plan.