(Volume 5) GGLC Express Issue - Global Gateway Logistics City

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National News leaders have decided to rely on a third attempt to create an autonomous region instead. Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan had been hosting fora for Cordillera stakeholders toward the end of 2010, to draw inputs for a draft autonomy measure he was tasked to put together before March 2011. He said the measure must pass through Congress for ratification before the next elections in 2013, to show to Cordillerans that the exercise has not been tainted by partisan interests. Department of Trade and Industry recorded P1.8 billion worth of investments. Close to P1-billion of these investments were poured into Baguio, which hosts the Baguio City Economic Zone and the Camp John Hay Special Economic Zone. In Pangasinan, business in Dagupan City and adjoining towns is expected to boom in 2011 with the entry of shopping mall giants SM in Dagupan and Robinsons in Calasiao town. More Malls The third bid for autonomy was pushed by the Cordillera Regional Development Council as far back as 2008. Members of the RDC argue that the Cordillera needs a steady government subsidy for a limited period to improve its infrastructure, instead of competing with other regions for funding allocations from the annual budget. The 1987 Constitution requires the creation of autonomous regions in the Cordillera and Muslim Mindanao. The first two laws creating the Cordillera Autonomous Region provide a 10-year subsidy of as much as P50 billion. 4 The third proposed autonomy law pushed the subsidy to P75 billion. In July 2008, Neda recorded a slide in the area’s gross regional domestic product from the 7.1 percent of 2007 to only 1.8 percent two years ago. The Cordillera economy improved slightly in 2009 during which Neda recorded a growth rate of 2 percent. But an RDC fact sheet took stock of the dwindling economic contribution of former industry leaders like mining. Government was also unable to fulfill a public-private sector pledge to restore mountain roads devastated by landslides that were triggered by typhoons in 2009. Lack of government spending As 2010 ends, most of these damaged roads remain in disrepair, owing to less government spending, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways. There are signs, however, that 2010 has been good for the region. For the last three quarters of 2010, the SM store expanding in Pangasinan province with SM Dagupan A Robinsons mall is already under construction in Calasiao while SM still has to overcome obstacles like the extension of a major road and the conversion of the site’s land use permit from that of a fishpond to commercial land. “If these problems are resolved, I don’t know of any reason for more delays. If Dagupan will not host it, [SM] will open it somewhere else, so we might as well grab it,” Mayor Benjamin Lim said. While Lim’s family owns retail stores in the city and different Pangasinan towns, his son, Bryan, said the entry of SM and Robinsons is “good for the competition.” “We will just have to come up with a good marketing plan to be able to compete. Besides, the establishment of SM would bring up the prices of land in the eastern barangays and that would be good for landowners,” the younger Lim said. Mayor Lim, however, is worried that the extension of the North Luzon Expressway through the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) that will pass through eastern Pangasinan and the establishment of the Alaminos airport project in western Pangasinan may negate the growth of central Pangasinan. GGLC Newsletter Express
National News Expressway P260-M world-class Caticlan port construction all set Manila Bulletin KALIBO, Aklan, Philippines – The Aklan provincial government is scheduled to start early next month the construction of a world-class jetty port in Caticlan, Malay, Aklan as part of its plan to accommodate the continuing influx of tourists, both domestic and overseas, to the famed resort island of Boracay. A ride on board a motorized ferry boat from Caticlan to the worldfamous white-beach island takes about 25 minutes. Groundbreaking ceremony of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway inaugurated by former president now Pampanga 3rd District Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo “The question is, how do we access the expressway from Dagupan or from central part of the province The expressway will benefit only Urdaneta City and part of the fifth and sixth districts,” he said. “With an airport in the west and an expressway in the east, central Pangasinan could be left behind economically unless there is a road network to pass through central Pangasinan that will link the Alaminos airport to the expressway in Urdaneta,” he said. Lim said 2011 will be a positive year for many businessmen because of the new government and the confidence in the Aquino administration. “It is expected that investments from abroad will come in. President Aquino has made a pitch for the Philippines already, so the mining, manufacturing and agriculture [sectors will experience a] surge in investment and money inflow from abroad,” he said. “The playing field is level now. The national government does not favor anyone, so everybody is [interested] in partnering with [them] in building roads, bridges, highways, airports, seaports and tollways,” he said. Reports from Tonette Orejas and Anselmo Roque, Inquirer Central Luzon, and Vincent Cabreza and Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon Aklan Governor Carlos S. Marquez said they are already set to begin the expansion project of the Caticlan jetty port as they already have the necessary documents issued by pertinent government agencies. Marquez said the project will cost around P260 million, with the amount to be raised through a bond flotation. “We are about to start the construction of a worldclass jetty port for Caticlan which will form part of our preparations for the arrival of the anticipated over a million tourists expected to come to Boracay in 2012 or 2013,” he said. The Aklan governor said the project will be a big help to local businessmen, including resort owners, in Boracay businessmen and resort owners even as he informed that the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) has already given the province approval to start reclaiming 40 hectares of the sea beside the existing Caticlan jetty port. The expansion project will cover only some 2.56 hectares, Marquez said. He said the decision to expand the existing jetty port in Caticlan after it became apparent that the port had become too busy as part of the Philippine Nautical Highway. Caticlan is a popular roll-on roll-off port (RORO) connecting Boracay and the rest of Aklan to the Panay mainland and other parts of the Western Visayas region. 5 GGLC Newsletter Express Volume 5 | Issue 1
Page 2 and 3: What’s inside National News Inves
Page 6 and 7: National News Aklan Provincial Plan
Page 8 and 9: egional News of the Clark airport t
Page 10 and 11: egional News SBMA, Subic investors
Page 12 and 13: egional News CIBI is the country’
Page 14 and 15: egional Global Gateway News News Pe
Page 16 and 17: GGLC Site progress Soil Boring test
Page 18 and 19: Ms. Jean January 19, 2011 Sir Denni

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