BATAAN CAPITOL – Bataan Governor Albert S. Garcia confirmed on Monday the 1Bataan Command Center located in Orani town along Roman Expressway will soon be another investment site.
“It’s a 20-hectare-area. The 1Bataan Command Center occupies only a small portion of it. That’s why we decided to apply for a PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) accreditation to further utilize the huge compound,” Gov. Garcia told the Bataan press in a news briefing at his Bulwagan ng Bayan office here.
Garcia added that there are prospective locators for a business process outsourcing company, data center, etc. who previously inspected the area.
The command center site was formerly a paper mill company acquired by the provincial government more than a decade ago because of its tax delinquencies.
The place boasts of a modern and state of the art fiber optic facilities making it a suitable site for BPO companies.
Garcia noted that the PEZA accreditation papers are now in the Office of the President for its approval.
PEZA is a Department of Trade and Industry attached agency that helps encourage investments into the country that provides benefits and incentives to foreign entities in the form of tax holidays and exemptions.
Meanwhile, Gov. Garcia also reported that the new and modern provincial jail will also be built inside the said compound and will have a “proposed factory floor” wherein the inmates will be employed to help the locators from FAB (Freeport Area of Bataan) and other investments sites of the province beef up their labor requirements. The inmates will be trained by TESDA depending on the requirements needed by companies.
The jail will be operated by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and will be built thru the help of the provincial government of Bataan using the long-term loan requirements and will be paid by the BJMP in an installment basis to the province. — photo and text: MHIKE R. CIGARAL