Veto of ecozone bill alarms Imee
By Nidz Godino
"Nothing personal… I'm just doing my job," in a text message Sen Maria Imelda Josefa "Imee" Marcos voiced alarm that the move of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to veto the bill that seeks to create the Bulacan City economic zone (ecozone) might drive away foreign investors.
She said foreign investors might have second thoughts about coming to the Philippines.
The senator, in a text message said the President, her younger brother, "has the power to veto any law."
Marcos, as chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs in the 18th Congress, sponsored passage of House Bill 7575 or the proposed Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport Act.
The measure aims to create Bulacan City Airport as special economic and freeport zone.
She pointed out that since 2016, former Finance secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd had prohibited creation of ecozones because it will lead to "foregone revenues" in the form of taxes.
"Sayang (It's a pity)," she said, adding that the proposed special ecozone could have provided jobs in Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija and nearby provinces.
She raised the need for Senate and executive branch to determine if the Marcos administration will continue the ban on creation of new ecozones.
Sen. Emmanuel Joel Villanueva, who hails from Bulacan, respects the President's decision "to veto this bill as it is his prerogative."
"As a true-blooded Bulakenyo, we find this decision unfortunate, as the proposal has potential to create a lot of jobs for Filipinos," the senator said in a statement.
"We fully supported passage of Bulacan freeport bill as it aims to provide jobs and livelihoods for our fellowmen, as well as develop country's economy with investments and infrastructure," he said.
Villanueva looks forward to working with the new administration and pushing for proposed legislations and policies in harmony with priorities of the executive branch, especially when it comes to job generation for all Filipinos.
"We will carefully study on refiling this bill and even consider other possible proposals such as strengthening PEZA, Philippine Economic Zone Authority Law," he concluded.
The San Miguel Corporation's (SMC) international airport and aerocity development in Bulacan is not in any danger of being discontinued. This, despite President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently vetoing the measure establishing the special economic zone and freeport. According to Malacañang press secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles, the project will push through despite Marcos Jr.'s veto, and the president's recent decision regarding House Bill 7575 is meant to "cure defects found in the measure."
"The construction of Bulacan international airport and aero city is not affected by the veto," Cruz-Angeles said.
"The Presidential veto was meant to include necessary corrections and include missing processes that might render HB 7575 entirely unconstitutional," she added. "Presidential veto is the fastest way to cure defects of HB 7575, especially the provision which exempts the Commission on Audit to look into the financial transactions on special economic zone and freeport…had the President not vetoed HB 7575, it would have lapsed into law on July 4 or 30 days after the bill was sent by the legislature to Malacañang."
Cruz-Angeles also stressed that without amendments indicated in President Marcos Jr.'s veto explanation, HB 7575 might be prone to constitutional challenges.
In a two-page veto message, President Marcos Jr. said the bill "lacks coherence with existing laws, rules, and regulations." The project is also "in close proximity" to the Clark Special Economic Zone, which is supposedly against policies regarding creation of special economic zones.
Following President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s veto of the proposed measure which aims to create special economic and freeport zone at the Bulacan Airport City, Malacañang said law had to be "sharpened." At a Palace presser, Press Secretary Attorney Trixie Cruz-Angeles was asked for comment on the "disappointment" of Senator Imee Marcos, the president's elder sister, on the vetoed bill as she raised concerns on the possible chilling effect to domestic and foreign investors.
"Well, the Palace merely says that the law has to be sharpened…we have to make anticipations of possible constitutional challenges on this one…it will cause further delays if the law is challenged and invalidated," Cruz-Angeles said.
Cruz-Angeles added that the Palace understood feelings of disappointment, President Marcos had made his position clear: "Let's fix this now so we don't wait for it to be challenged later on."
She noted that the new President fully supported the proposed legislation.
"And so in fact this is it is his commitment to sharpen the law so that when this is indeed passed, then he can fully support it," Cruz-Angeles said.
In his letter addressed to the Senate President and members of the upper chamber dated July 1, 2022, President Marcos was "constrained to veto" the enrolled House Bill 7575 or "An Act Establishing the Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport, Province of Bulacan and Appropriating Funds Therefor."
In vetoing the bill, the President explained that the proposal "significantly narrows our tax base with its mandated incentives applicable to registered enterprises," which was "contrary to the government's objective of developing tax system with low rates and broad tax base."
In a previous statement, Senator Marcos recognized and upheld President's prerogative to veto any bill, but she was deeply "disappointed the Bulacan ecozone has been cancelled."
"In truth, this is unfinished business from Secretary Dominguez's tenure, during which all new ecozones were vetoed from 2016 until today, reasons cited in the veto message were amply discussed during numerous hearings involving stakeholders, then debated at length during plenary resulting in rare, unanimous Senate vote," Cruz-Angeles said.
The senator then called on Marcos' economic team "to stake clear policy on the creation of new ecozones, which are not prohibited under the CREATE (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises) law."
Construction of P740-billion international airport in Bulacan will push through as planned, Malacañang said noting that the veto of the bill which sought to establish a special economic zone in the area was only meant to "cure defects" of the measure. President Marcos Jr. fully supports creation of Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport, although he had to veto measure that provides for it so that its infirmities can be addressed, said Angeles.
"The construction of the Bulacan international airport and aero city is not affected by the veto…presidential veto was meant to include necessary corrections and include missing processes that might render House Bill 7575 entirely unconstitutional," she added.
In October 2020, San Miguel Corp secured a 50-year franchise from Congress to operate the Bulacan Airport, which is envisioned as an alternative to the congested NAIA in Manila.
Under the franchise terms, San Miguel unit San Miguel Aero City will be exempt from taxes for the first 10 years.
The proposed law creating the special economic zone in the area, however, lacks coherence with existing rules as it failed to provide audit provisions for the COA, procedures for the expropriation of lands awarded to agrarian reform beneficiaries, and a master plan for zone's specific bounds, according to Marcos' veto message.
"Without those necessary amendments indicated in the veto explanation, the law may be vulnerable to constitutional challenge," Cruz-Angeles said.
The proposed airport will be built on a 2,500-hectare land in Bulacan that would feature a world-class gateway capable of serving 100 million passengers every year, as well as an adjacent urban and industrial hub.
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