HERMOSA, Bataan — Impressed by the economic development of the province, particularly the establishment of power plants, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said Friday that “Bataan will be literal and figurative powerhouse” in the future.

Speaking during the inauguration of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines’ Hermosa-San Jose 500-kiloVolt (kV) here, Marcos cited Bataan’s progress such as the NGCP’s expansion for producing more employment, saying Bataan will become the center for economic development in the near future.

The President also cited the Bataan- Mindoro gas project, the soon-to-be constructed Bataan-Cavite-Interlink Bridge (BCIB), a $4 billion bridge project that had been bidded out last 2 July and will start its construction soon.

The architect known to be behind its creation and establishment, Congressman Abet S. Garcia, has predicted that some 5 million vehicles will pass through BCIB yearly, and this will certainly decongest Metro Manila from monstrous traffic jams.

Cong. Abet and his younger brother then congressman now governor Joet S. Garcia were also the architects for the conversion of then bankrupt Philippine Economic Zone Authority, into now called Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB). Since its conversion into AFAB, this freeport has brought life from its lamentable past.

According to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) which released recently for the first time the results of the Provincial Product Accounts (PPA) of the 16 pilot regions outside the National Capital Region (NCR), covering 82 provinces and 17 Highly Urbanized Cities (HUCs) from November to December 2023, it cited Bataan as one of the Top 10 Fastest-Growing Provinces in Terms of Per Capita GDP Annual Growth Rates at Constant 2018 Prices, 2021-2022.   

This PSA Special Release highlights the economic performance of all provinces and HUCs included in the PPA compilation in 2023, particularly in terms of their per capita GDP, which is defined as the estimated average contribution of each individual to the GDP.

Based on 2022 per Capita GDP (in Php) Bataan ranked Fifth with 297,930 and the only province in Central Luzon that garnered such PPA.

Bataan is among the provinces in the Philippines with a high Human Development Index, according to Wikipedia reports.

The three Garcia siblings — Gov. Joet S. Garcia, Congressman Abet Garcia and Congresswoman Gila-Garcia are also fast-tracking the widening of the 6-lane Roman highway, a major access road from the North to Southern Bataan.