Refugee camp transformed into techno park

A VIETNAMESE executive in America who recently visited Morong, Bataan, cried after seeing the rickety wooden boat still standing. To him, it was more than a boat.

It was a symbol of the struggles he and the rest of the Vietnamese "boat people" had gone through decades ago to escape the oppressive socio-political environment in Vietnam, Cambodia and the rest of Indochina.


Looking back

He reminisced how 34 men, 20 women and 11 children (he was one of the children) set off from Phu Khang (in Nha Trang City, Vietnam) on two motorized light fishing boats and headed for the open seas on May 12, 1981.

For almost a week, these boats were adrift in the high seas, precariously keeping afloat amid storms. Somehow, these boats found its way to the Mabayo Beach, Morong, Bataan. During the '80s and into the early '90s, over 400,000 refugees from the Indochinese Peninsula made the 15.6-hectare Philippine Refugee Processing Center in Morong, Bataan their home. In its 14-year existence, this United Nations facility was, at one point, home to some 18,000 refugees and asylum seekers, and here they stayed until the United States and European governments could find host families for them.

When the UN wrapped up work here in 1994, it left behind an intact infrastructure-roads, sewerage and irrigation systems, buildings and houses. Power was still running.

Special eco-zone

Now, 10 years later, the Center is part of a 365-hectare Bataan Techno Park (BTP), a special economic zone primarily designed to host high-tech agriculture and aquaculture ventures. It is positioning itself as the next investor site outside the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

Morong's physical characteristics and the manpower availability would soon make it a center for modern agriculture and aquaculture technology focusing on biotechnology in partnership with the country's top scientists and agriculturists.

It would also focus on small and medium enterprises developing high-value indigenous products and generate sufficient quality employment.

BTPI recently acquired 2.7 million-pesos worth of communication equipment and services, making it now capable of 24-hour Internet connectivity, according to its president and CEO Isaac Puno III.

He added that with the installation of the communication facilities in BTP, specifically the satellite phones and the Internet connection, investors are now assured of reliable communication services within and outside the BTP complex.

Land-use categories

The 365-hectare fenced ecozone will be subdivided into three several land-use categories-117.30 hectares for agriculture, 10.42 hectares for commercial purposes and 1.97 hectares for a green buffer zone. On the other hand, 134.67 hectares were allotted for industrial purposes, 24.33 for institutional, 56.12 for open spaces, 5.82 for parks, 9.20 for residential and 5.40 for mixed residential and commercial use.

BTPI is a subsidiary of the Bases Conversion Development Authority, which has already infused 289 million pesos to jumpstart the technopark development. Another 108 million pesos was used for the construction of the 10-km backdoor access road from the Subic special economic and free zone to BTP.

Tissue culture

Said Irwin Jose M. Baylon, head of BTPI's planning and business development: "We have a tie-up with UP Los Baños and Diliman on tissue culture. Plant tissues derived from one original (fruit-bearing) plant will enable us to create up to a hundred thousand plants of the same kind that would not be prone to diseases and will bear fruit simultaneously."

This plan, however, seems to be long-term and would not be realized until the technology and knowledge transfer is complete. "People from UP need highly technical individuals (at BTPI) who know tissue culture. The educational attainment is still not that high because this is a fifth-class municipality," added Baylon.

More immediate plans would include an ostrich farm, coffee and banana plantations, and even a watermelon farm.

Locators

An organic farm for large-scale production of herbs for export is planned for BTP. Barnston Herbs International Inc., a multinational agriculture-based firm, will invest at least 30 million pesos within the next three years.

Barnston Herbs will lease 10 hectares of land for the first five years to be used for organic farming of culinary herbs, spices and high-value crops such as basil, chervil, chives, lemon balm, lemon grass, marjoram, mint and oregano.

Thirty workers will work initially at the herb farm-all residents of Morong. This will be done in coordination with the skill enhancement training of the BTP Labor Center, said Puno.

BTPI chair Rufo Colayco said what makes BTP a good investment site is that stakeholders are included in the development plan, implementation and monitoring. Some of these stakeholders are the BCDA, SBMA, the Bataan provincial government, Morong municipal government, the private sector, the Kasamaka multipurpose cooperative, the community, the Bataan Center for Innovative Science and Technology Inc. and the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Brigadier General Lysias C. Cabusao, BTP administrator, said that since it was declared a free zone, the whole area has been free from politicking and bureaucracy.

He added locators also have the advantage of easy access to SBMA facilities via the BTP-SBMA backdoor road. For groups on tour, there are picnic grounds, shrines, monuments, ample water, power and road infrastructure, and the security of a perimeter fence.

At present, facilities are available for lodging, conference and sports functions. There is even a paint-ball war game field and a jungle survival training that are being used for company team-building seminars.

For its first to third year, BTP aims to generate employment, and to achieve this the area is being promoted as a venue for out-of-town seminars, weddings, workshops and corporate programs. The combination of modern infrastructure such as office spaces, guesthouses, dormitories and cottages, and historical sites and markers from the turbulent Vietnam War era enhances BTP's attractiveness as an educational venue for an otherwise routine company trip, Cabusao said.

Furthermore, BTP is also being developed as an ecotourism site. It boasts of neighboring pristine beaches such as the Sudeco Beach Resort-a five-minute drive from SBMA southgate complete with a casino, nature trails, hotels and restaurants, snorkeling and diving sites.

The BPTI decided to hold on to the stone markers, sculptures, small temples, the rickety boat and some sacred spots in memory of those who searched for their freedom.

But like the refugees who have now found new beginnings in new lands, the former refugee center has also moved on and carved out a new beginning for itself.

No nepotism, no hidden deals at SBMA’

By Reynaldo M. Garcia

IN a recent installment of his Manila Times’ weekly column, Hanging Habagat, entitled “Nepotism is Tong’s Folly,” Patrick Roxas named several SBMA officials and department managers and alleged that the only reason they were in the SBMA was because of their kinship with Chair Felicito C. Payumo.

Having worked with those named by Roxas, I feel it is my duty to come out with clarifications on the points that he has raised.

First of all, let me state that no Civil Service rules have been broken with the appointment of all people Roxas has named. According to CS guidelines, one must be within the third degree of consanguinity or kinship with the chair before nepotism can be proven.

Being this, no one among the officials named are related to Payumo within the first to third degree of consanguinity.

Let me also assure you that these people are highly qualified and competent to occupy the posts they were appointed to.

The lawyer Sergio Cruz was not appointed by Payumo, but by then President Estrada and the concurrent post that he holds does not give additional compensation. The treasury department of the SBMA can bear this out. The different position he has held is a sign of the confidence and belief in his expertise by the SBMA administration.

Sergio is a UP Law graduate and former governor for Central Luzon of the International Bar Association of the Philippines (IBP). While the lawyer Chito Cruz is a graduate of the Ateneo Law School.

Let me also counter the notion that delinquent SBMA investors are still delinquent to this day, no thanks to the Special Task Force that the SBMA created.

In fact, the Special Task Force has been commended on separate occasions for its achievements, having been able to collect a total of P1 billion in arrearages.

You will have to understand that these delinquent investors have arrears that accumulated from the previous administration. What we have done here is to create an amenable payment scheme, which would both be advantageous to delinquent investors and the SBMA.

Other managers he has mentioned don’t even fall as distant relatives; here are some to clear a few points:

The lawyer, Carlo Cruz, is a graduate of San Beda Law School, where he has also taught, and has authored several law books. He is not related to neither Payumo nor Chito Cruz. SBMA’s fire chief, Apolinar Salang, has been here since the US Navy days and previous SBMA administrations; his experience highly qualifies him for the post he holds.

The tourism manager, Armin Santos, is a former college professor from Olongapo City and is not related to Payumo whatsoever. Former public works deputy, Cesar Adamos, is a local engineer but has now since migrated to the US. Payumo did not know him before he was hired. Dr. Imelda Montemayor, who heads the Health and Welfare Group, is a doctor from Olongapo City. She is not related to the chair.

The contractor that Roxas names as Jun Sayo has never been awarded a bid nor has he actively participated in a bidding here in Subic. This can be checked with the project bidding and awards committee.

Roxas’ column also questions the presence of some businesses supposedly owned by some relatives. To this, let me say these are legitimate business ventures that have gone through the usual process of approval. One of them can be traced to having been related with Payumo within the third degree of consanguinity. In the case of former SBMA chair Dick Gordon, his sister maintained and ran Mountainwoods Inn in the Kalayaan area.

Roxas’ recent hits on the SBMA can be considered a vengeful act for his recent termination as an SBMA consultant.

Roxas’ consultancy was terminated because of a breach of trust with the SBMA, which is why he has been writing all of these negative articles, just at a time when Payumo’s post as SBMA chair is being coveted by a host of aspirants.

What makes this whole thing ironic is that he has pointed to his sources as former SBMA consultant Doring Rocha and employee Robert Pineda, both of whom were also relieved for breach of trust. Rocha and Pineda were terminated for their involvement in the disposal of an old batching plant.

One last point I would like to raise, which is contrary to Roxas’ statements, pertains to the recent privatization of Subic’s power plant. Roxas and his sources claim that there is P5-billion worth of unpaid utilities from some 40 locators here.

First of all, the total trade receivables in the Freeport, including lease rates and services, do not even run up to that figure. As of recent records, there is only a total of P218 million in utility receivables, P16 million of which are utilities incurred by the residential sector and P202 million by locators. These are overall outstanding accounts and not necessarily delinquent.

The privatization move made with the Aboitiz group is now being hailed as a model for other public utilities groups, which are opting for a similar move. The recent acquisition of our power plant by Enerzone, an Aboitiz group, is actually now a model for other public utilities’ privatization. In fact, even the city of Olongapo is contemplating a similar move.

Even before the privatization process pushed through, unpaid arrears from some investors were carefully worked out so that the transition would be made easy, and also to make sure that the deal puts the SBMA at an advantage and not at a losing end.

With the way Roxas is behaving, his former peers here in the SBMA cannot help but think of why he has decided to take this course of action.

His actions only make us see a hatchet job instigated by certain circles wanting to put down the good name rightfully earned by Subic and the people who work here.

(Reynaldo M. Garcia is department manager of the SBMA’s Public Relations Department)