“That’s a total waste of money, that’s being treated like a pork barrel. Hindi pupuwede. Talagang there’s no chance for a freeport to develop so far away. Maski malalapit na freeport, yung port mismo nahihirapan eh,” he told reporters after the hearing on the freeport’s proposed budget.
He added that investors will not use APECO, which is based in Casiguran, Aurora, as an alternative to Manila because “they have nothing to pick up.”
Inadequate infrastructure
Osmeña also noted during the hearing that APECO’s facilities are inadequate.
“There are no resources, no access to markets. They, the ones who hired you, are persistent in trying to get more money from the government for something that never existed,” he told APECO officials.
He added that he had been listening to the same promises from APECO’s heads for the last five years, but that the projects were never fulfilled.
“You were not pressured because you were not the one who made the promise here. Every year the CEO quits because he cannot justify the promises he made,” he said.
Lawyer Gerardo Erquiza Jr., APECO president and CEO, maintained that APECO is very promising but he admitted that they still lack the needed infrastructure.
“Pag ito’y nagkaroon ng facilities and infrastructure, ito’y makakatakbo at makakagawa ng negosyo. Kung tatapusin natin ‘yan ay aabot let’s say mga P9 billion, nandun pa lang sa mga nagagawa mga P400 million pa lang. Walang power, walang power lines, walang iba’t ibang facilities kundi mga daan lamang,” he told reporters.
He said that APECO only received five percent of the budget it needs, limiting what they can do.
“Wala kang magagawa sa 5 percent. Ang 5 percent equivalent lang ‘yan ng P470 million. Gaya ng sinabi ko, ang Subic bago nakatakbo P100 billion at ang Clark umabot ng P80 billion approximately,” he said.
“Ang APECO ay sana mabigyan ng isang pagkakataon para magawa niya kung ano talagang gagawin. Kailangan mailagay talaga yung mga infrastructures, power lines, tubig na gagamitin sa loob, mga ibang facilities, warehouses kasi hindi papasok talaga yung mga investors dyan kung hindi kumpleto,” he added.
APECO officials will return to the Senate next week to further defend its budget and explain the Commission on Audit’s findings.
APECO is a 13,000-hectare project created by Republic Act No. 10083, which was co-sponsored by then-Senator Edgardo Angara and his son, then-Congressman Juan Edgardo Angara. The younger Angara as well as his aunt, Rep. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, sit on the APECO board.
In 2012, about 120 farmers, fishermen and indigenous people marched for 21 days from Casiguran to Manila to protest the economic zone, saying that they feared losing their homes due to the project. — BM, GMA News
