The time & date in Clark, Philippines is

More jobs today in Subic and Clark

CLARK FREEPORT ZONE — Two of the most strategic defense posts of the United States, which the Philippine government turned into economic zones beginning in 1992, are now among the country’s biggest job centers, doubling or tripling the employment levels during the heyday of the American bases.

The former Clark Air Base in Pampanga province and Subic Naval Base in Zambales province — now the Clark Freeport and Subic Bay Freeport, respectively — employ a total of 117,723 workers.

Clark had 50,184 workers last month, according to records of Clark Development Corp. (CDC). Subic had 67,539 workers as of April, according to Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

The number of jobs at Clark is more than double the 22,000 workers hired by the 13th Air Force up until the pullout of US troops in 1991, according to CDC president Levy Laus.

Over at Subic, the employment figure is more than thrice the 20,000 workers there until the Seventh Fleet withdrew in 1992, SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza said.

CDC and SBMA are government-owned corporations created by Congress to oversee the conversion of Clark and Subic. Their mother agency is the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA).

Pullout of US forces

The government undertook the base conversion program in 1992, a year after the pullout of the US military and the eruptions of Mt. Pinatubo.

The Philippines regained control of the base lands, which cover at least 100,000 hectares, when the Senate rejected the extension of the 1947 military bases agreement in 1991.

Laus said the growing employment at Clark could be attributed to the “increased confidence of investors and locators in President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s support for the development of the free port.”

Tax incentives regained

Investors regained their tax incentives in April this year when legislators, led by Sen. Ralph Recto, worked to amend Republic Act No. 7227 or the Bases Conversion Law that did not contain explicit provisions on business perks unlike those enjoyed by locators at the Subic Freeport.

In the campaign to regain the benefits, Ms Arroyo had certified two bills as urgent.

Clark has “steadily achieved the vision of President Macapagal-Arroyo to make it one of the employment capitals in the country today,” Laus said.

Growth drivers

In Clark, as of May, companies producing garments, electronic parts, furniture and other crafts were the top job generators at the free port.

They were followed by business process outsourcing (BPO) firms and tourism-related companies.

There are 107 firms in service-related businesses, 115 firms in the industrial sector, 28 in commercial, 21 in aviation, 16 in tourism, 31 in BPO and information technology, 8 in utility and 4 in housing, according to CDC records.

Their committed investments for 2006 totaled P22.3 billion. Exports in Clark last year reached more than $1 billion.

TI facility

New jobs will be generated when Texas Instruments Inc., the world’s biggest maker of mobile phone chips, starts construction of a $1-billion semiconductor facility in Clark in July or August.

The TI facility will cover eight hectares and could create a total of 10,000 new jobs at full capacity, Trade Secretary Peter Favila said last month. The facility will start production in 2008.

In Subic, the services sector accounted for the biggest number of employees with 32,599 or 48.27 percent of the total work force. The manufacturing and construction sectors came second and third, respectively.

Unlike in Clark where women workers are the majority, men hold most of the jobs in Subic. Most workers in Clark come from Pampanga while those in Subic are largely residents of Olongapo City, which is just outside the free port.

Laus said most of the Clark-based companies complied with the minimum wage law. The daily minimum wage in Central Luzon ranges from P178.50 to P228.50, according to the Department of Labor and Employment.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board approved in July 2006 at least P14.50 to P18.50 in additional cost of living allowance, which will be integrated in the daily wages next month.

Banner year

SBMA chair Feliciano Salonga called 2006 a “banner year” because of the “newfound vibrancy prevailing at the free port.”

Revenue collections, for one, amounted to P6.9 billion, which went to the national treasury. The registered enterprises at the Subic free port reached 981 as of April.

The SBMA directors approved 129 new projects worth $1.43 billion in 2006.

Salonga said Korean and Chinese businesses accounted for the biggest foreign direct investments (FDI) in the free port, with the entry of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Ltd. and Hebei Xingtai Jingniu Glass Co. Ltd., among others.

Arreza said Hanjin, one of the world’s largest shipbuilding firms, on Monday raised its employment target from 7,000 to 15,000.

Logistics hub

Ms Arroyo has envisioned Clark and Subic as a unified logistics hub that would be the “best” in Southeast Asia.

Both free ports host international airports, the biggest being the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark where at least five low-cost airlines have operated since 2006.

A Japanese government-funded 94-km highway linking the two free ports is being built on the western ranges of Central Luzon, and the BCDA is working to arrest months of delay in the project supposedly due to right-of-way problems.

The Subic Port Development Project is nearing completion, funded also by a loan from the Japanese government.

Arreza said SBMA was gearing to achieve a “much bigger performance … and drive growth and employment by aiming to attract investment pledges of up to $5 billion, creating 100,000 jobs, and posting $2 billion export by the year 2010.”