The move seems to be gaining ground as separate bills have been filed before the Senate and at the House of Representatives, the governor said.
In the Senate, Sen. Manuel A. Roxas II sponsored Senate Bill No. 2983. Its counterpart in the House or Representatives is House Bill No. 5877, authored by Sarangani Rep. Erwin L. Chiongbian.
“We hope to attract investors through this economic zone, which will further spur the development of the province,” the Dominguez said.
Dominguez is getting the support of local government and business leaders here.
Rey Ernesto N. Millan, advocacy advisor of the Makima-IT, said there is still a lot of work involved to make the project a reality. For one, infrastructure like buildings are not yet in place, he added.
Sarangani, he said, hopes to replicate the success of the economic zones in the former Subic Naval Base and Clark Air Base. In fact, local government, business and non-government leaders toured both economic zones last year to study their success stories.
But Milan pointed out that these economic zones were lucky since they inherited the numerous and topnotch facilities left behind by the American military.
The Sarangani team also visited a coal-fired power plant in Clark.
Supporters of the Sarangani ecozone said that the proposed 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Maasim town would be a “good starting point” to attract investors.
The Alcantara-led Conal Holdings Corp has announced it will build the coal power plant with an investment of $450 million. But environment and religious groups are opposing the project for fear of environment and human health hazards. (MindaNews)
