Veto of bill creating Bulacan Airport City ecozone ‘unfortunate’ — Zubiri, Villanueva

An artistic rendition of the P734-billion New Manila International Airport that will rise in Bulakan. (Contributed)

MANILA, Philippines — The decision of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to veto a bill creating the Bulacan Airport City Special Ecozone is “unfortunate,” said Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri and Joel Villanueva.

Lamenting the President’s decision, Zubiri and Villanueva pointed out that the Bulacan Airport City could generate thousands of jobs.

“The Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone is envisioned to complement the construction of one of the largest airports in the region and to make it not just a transportation hub but a manufacturing hub as well, in the hope of bringing in much-needed investments and thousands of jobs for the people of Central Luzon,” Zubiri said in a statement on Saturday evening.

“That is why we made sure that the bill conforms with the provisions of CREATE (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises) law on the new incentives regime. The Veto is unfortunate but it is a Presidential prerogative,” he added.

Zubiri also noted that the CREATE law does not prohibit the creation of new economic zones “as long as it conforms with the new fiscal and non-fiscal incentives under the CREATE law and as long as it conforms with the strict regulatory powers of the Fiscal Incentives Review Board.”

Villanueva shares Zubiri’s view.

“We respect 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 the potential to create a lot of jobs for Filipinos,” Villanueva said in a separate statement on Sunday.

“We fully supported the passage of the Bulacan freeport bill as it aims to provide jobs and livelihoods for our kababayans, as well as develop the country’s economy with investments and infrastructure,” he continued.

According to Villanueva, they will review the refiling of the measure.

“As we prepare for the 19th Congress, we look forward to working with the new administration and push for proposed legislation and policies in harmony with the priorities of the executive branch, especially when it comes to job generation for all Filipinos,” he said.

“We will carefully study on refiling this bill, and even consider other possible proposals such as strengthening the PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) Law,” the senator added.

Marcos vetoed the said bill over “substantial fiscal risks to the country,” for being in conflict with existing mandates of other government agencies, and for lacking “coherence with existing laws, rules and regulations by failing to provide audit provisions for the Commission on Audit, procedures for the expropriation of lands awarded to agrarian beneficiaries, and a master plan for the specific metes and bounds of the economic zone.”

/MUF