Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

politicians made the first moves, and multinational
manufacturing companies initiated the other two cases.
In 1969 President Marcos established the Foreign Trade
Zone Authority (FTZA) and the Philippine’s first Export
Processing Zone (EPZ) in the town of Mariveles, Bataan
through RA5490, which was actually a pet project of
then Bataan Representative Pablo Roman. Since the
first EPZ was located on mountainous Bataan peninsula
across the Manila bay, experts and academes criticized
that the cost-benefit analysis gave way to a political
calculation. It was known that President Marcos who
ran for a second presidential term exchanged political
favors for political support, meaning vote, solicited by
Representative Roman.
Although the law passed, the Bataan EPZ had not
been actually constructed until President Marcos
declared martial law in 1972 as it lacked fund. Marcos
issued the Presidential Decree No. 66. It first changed
the name of FTZA into Economic Processing Zone
Authority (EPZA) and made it into a corporation, and
allocated 200 million pesos fund (it was later increased
to 1 billion pesos), then gave EPZA police authority
to forcefully relocate the people who were living in the
proposed development area. In 1975 the EPZA was
awarded more than 5.8 billion Japanese yen loan by the
Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF; now
Japan Bank of International Cooperation: JBIC) and
developed nearly 1600 Ha site expansion. The Bataan
EPZ started operating in 1973 and there were 60
companies operating by 2003.
The second EPZ project was planned by Cebu based
manufacturers headed by Timex Philippine, and was
endorsed by the Lapulapu city authority. President
Marcos approved it in 1975. The Mactan EPZ was
established in Mactan, Cebu and started operation in
1978. The 425 Ha Zone was fully occupied by 112
companies by 2003.
The third national EPZ was planned in Baguio
City. Texas Instruments, a leading semiconductor
manufacturing company, persuaded President Marcos
with weather data in Baguio that its climate was
advantageous for semiconductor manufacturing. The
EPZ started operating in 1979. 12 companies were
operating in its 114 Ha lots in 2003.
The forth EPZ was established in Rosario, Cavite
in January 1986, only one month before the fall of
President Marcos. The plan was started in 1979 when
Cavite Governor Juanito Remulla saw the advantage
of the province that was located just south of Metro
THE STATE, DEVELOPMENT AND GLOBALIZATION
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Manila. Governor Remulla got support from then Prime
Minister Cesar Virata, who was also from Cavite, and
made a blueprint of the Ecozone. The following year,
Remulla passed a provincial resolution that designated
almost all lands along the national highway in Carmona
and Ternate as Part of the Ecozone. Then the president
approved the plan. Governor Remulla made personal
efforts to maintain peaceful investor-labor relation
by controlling labor associations and to silence antidevelopment
farmers’ organizations sometimes with
coercive methods. Concerned NGOs and journalists
criticized his authoritarian way of development.
There was also a rumor that the governor was taking
commissions from factories as a peace-maintaining fee.
In 1991 the OECD gave a 4 billion yen loan for
completing the site development. The Japanese
government also extended its assistance to expand and
improve the Batangas port facilities for the convenience
of exporters in southern Tagalog region including
Cavite. The Cavite EPZ was accommodating the biggest
number of locators, 268, among four national-owned
EPZs in 2003.
By 1987, in addition to the four national EPZs,
three private-owned special economic zones were
operational.
The international community warmly welcomed the
installation of the Aquino government and poured
in not only ODA but also funds from private donor
agencies and private sectors. To improve the economic
climate, President Aquino quickly passed laws to
encourage foreign investment and exporters such as the
Omnibus Investments Code (Executive Order 226),
the Build-Operate-Transfer law (RA7718), and the
Foreign Investments Act (RA7042). With these efforts,
foreign investments were coming into Manila and its
vicinity, but did not spread to the other rural areas.
In February 1988, in order to accelerate countryside
development, President Aquino approved the “Regional
Industrial Centers” policy proposed by the Department
of Trade and Industry (DTI). 4 The policy was given
high priority and was included in the Medium Term
Development Plan of the Philippines. The DTI selected
regional centers based on several conditions such as
access to airports, ports, and highways, availability of
electricity and water facilities, availability of affordable
land, possibility of extension and development costs.
Identified centers were Region 1: San Fernando, La
Union; Cordillera Administrative Region, Baguio
Export Processing Zone; Region 2: Cauayan, Isabera;
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows