Cagayan free port zone not quite its Subic cousin 17 years after creation

A fleet of imported used luxury vehicles—including Porsches, BMWs, Mercedes-Benzes, Hummers—await wash and polishing work at a car lot in Casambalangan village in Santa Ana, Cagayan, in this file photo. The Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport in Sta. Ana has little or no comparison with the more developed Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales. MELVIN GASCON/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

STA. ANA, Cagayan—For people unfamiliar with the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport (CSEZFP) here, every mention of this free port, as well as the government agency that is tasked to manage and supervise its operations, brings to mind a visual comparison with the more familiar Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales.

First-time visitors who expect to see a developed and urban Subic-like environment usually end up disappointed, as there is little or no comparison. Others, however, would love the rural setting: less crowds, clean beaches, fresh air and verdant rice fields that complement the mountains in the background.

The CSEZFP was created through Republic Act 7922, known as the Cagayan Special Economic Zone Act of 1995, authored by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who is a native of neighboring Gonzaga town. It is located at the northeastern tip of Luzon mainland, about 620 km north of Manila.

The free port occupies all of 441,000 hectares of Sta. Ana, or an area almost three times the size of Quezon City. It also includes the far-off islands of Fuga, Barit and Mabbag, which are under the jurisdiction of Aparri town.

In its entirety, the free port covers approximately 54,000 hectares of “urban, suburban and agro-industrial lands for prime development,” according to the website of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), the agency tasked to manage and supervise its operations.

There has been sporadic development in the town, mainly spurred by enterprising locals and foreign investors, known here as “locators.” Officials said CEZA’s main thrust is to develop the CSEZFP as an interactive gaming, shipping and ecotourism hub in Southeast Asia.

From its main entrance in Casambalangan village, visitors are greeted by a view overlooking the rows and clusters of imported used cars, vans, buses and trucks like a sprawling, unorganized parking lot, with makeshift hangars and single-story buildings interspersed within the five-hectare yard.

The concrete road then swoops downhill and splits: to the left is the main gate to Port Irene, CSEZFP’s main port, and to the right, the road that proceeds to Santa Ana town proper and traversing five villages until it hits a dead end at the fish port in San Vicente village, 20 kilometers from the entrance.

The 1.5-km access road leading to Port Irene, which is undergoing repair, is a paved two-lane boulevard, now being put to good use—or as what locals said, “abused”—mainly by scores of dump trucks that transport processed magnetite to the port from black-sand mining sites in the six northern towns of Cagayan, for export to China.

On Wednesday, port officials momentarily stopped the Philippine Daily Inquirer at Port Irene’s main gate and requested them not to take photographs of the port facilities because “there is nothing to see there, and everything is still messy and ugly (magulo at saka pangit pa).”

Two newly painted warehouses stand out as the main structures at the port, which on Wednesday were under tight security. Locals at a nearby store and eatery said a “VIP” (very important person) was inside.

A two-story building sits behind, supposedly occupied by ForerunnerMulti-Resources Inc., the main car importer of used vehicles.

In another compound, mounds of black sand towered above the fences, waiting to be loaded to a 7,000-ton cargo ship that was then docked at the main pier.

Equipment used for loading were idle, and laborers loitered, in stark contrast to the day before when two ships loaded with magnetite left Port Irene.

Except for a helicopter that was shuttling all day to and from behind the gated compound at the back of the warehouses, there was little activity there on Wednesday, even as port officials denied having been made aware of the scheduled visit of Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon.

Almost adjacent to the car lot in Casambalangan is the main residential area, with two single-pump gasoline stations, a covered barangay (village) gymnasium and a public high school serving as local landmarks.

The next 10 kilometers of the main road, traversing Rapuli and Diora-Zinungan villages, open up to a mostly underdeveloped rural landscape, providing a scenic view of the bay on the left and dotted by a number of beach resorts. The imposing jai-alai fronton of the CEZA-licensed Meridien Vista Gaming Corp. can be seen along the way.

Development is starting to shape along the road’s 3-kilometer stretch from Barangay Diora-Zinungan to Barangay Centro, where the casino complex of the Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co. Ltd., along with a row of villas that provide five-star accommodation to its foreign players, dominates the landscape. The town center has also started to show some signs of development, with a number of business establishments already operating, such as a rural bank, two gasoline stations, construction-supply stores, mini-grocery outlets and restaurants.

Toward the end of this main business district is the Sta. Ana public market, which comes alive with business activity on Thursdays and Sundays, the designated market days.

The scenery then reverts to its countryside feature in Palawig and Santa Cruz villages, occasionally disrupted by random business structures.

But once in the village of Tangatan, visitors are greeted by the imposing view of the structures at the Sun City Cagayan Holiday and Leisure Resort, another casino-cum-resort here, which caters mostly to foreign gamblers.

The whole complex extends to the village of San Vicente and shares the use of the airstrip of the Philippine Navy’s Camilo Osias Operating Base here.

The end of the national road leads to the San Vicente fish port, which also serves as a docking facility for passenger ferries bound for the eastern coastal towns of Isabela, as well as for boats that bring tourists to nearby Palaui Island, one of the town’s main tourist attractions.