A HOUSE leader on Wednesday welcomed the appointment of a new administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority while calling on the leaders of the Freeport to work double time in helping President Rodrigo Duterte address the unabated smuggling problem.
“We expect them to work according to their mandate and what has been ordered by President Duterte to stop smuggling which can increase revenue collection and provide better services to our people,” said Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu.
Abu shared SBMA Chairman Martin Diño’s statement the Freeport would have “an excellent working team” following the appointment of lawyer Wilma Eisma as Freeport administrator.
“Now we can really move forward at Subic in our goal to raise investments and revenues, eliminate smuggling and stamp out corruption,” Abu quoted Diño as saying.
Eisma replaces former administrator Roberto Garcia and brings to Subic her experience as manager for corporate affairs of Philip Morris and Fortune Tobacco Corp.
She is expected to take over her post next week in what Diño describes as “a great start to a new year in our effort to turn Subic into an anchor of national growth.”
Dino, appointed by Malacañang last September, said, “There are no more roadblocks to a wide-ranging reform in Subic, because now we can truly say we have an excellent working team.”
The reform-minded Dino said he hoped President Duterte would also name the remaining members of the SBMA Board, the policy-making body, so the Freeport “can move rapidly and urgently in seeking new investments and building much-needed infrastructure.”
Earlier this month, Dino received approval from Transportation Secretary Arturo Tugade to place his proposal for a 100-km multi-modal elevated railway and expressway from Subic Port to the Port of Manila under the emergency powers of the Executive, which the Palace is seeking from Congress.
The P100-billion project is believed to greatly relieve port and traffic congestion in Metro Manila and increase cargo transit in Subic Port, which is currently operating at only one-third its rated capacity of 600,000 TEUs or 20-foot equivalent unit containers.
“It would also speed up the movement of goods in and out of the Port of Manila to serve its giant market of 20 million consumers; and it would finally help to decongest heavy traffic in the metropolis,” Dino said.