SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Top executives of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce (SBFCC) have expressed relief over the appointment by President Benigno Simeon Aquino III of new directors to the SBMA board, saying this would put the Subic agency back on track.
“This is good news. Now we can get back to work and resolve some unfinished business,” said SBMA administrator Armand Arreza after the appointments were announced by Malacañang recently.
Arreza said that a lot of pending matters have already accumulated before the SBMA board ever since Executive Order No. 2 (EO 2), which revoked the appointment of some directors, took effect on July 30 last year.
“But now, we have a quorum, so we can do business again,” Arreza added. He said that the six new appointees and the three remaining officials not affected by EO 2 would already comprise a majority in the policy-making body.
The new directors named by President Aquino are former Ayala Land president Francisco Licuanan III; Benjamin Antonio III, president of the Subic Bay Consultancy and Allied Services Corp.; Philip Camara, president of the Zambales-based political party Pinag-isang Lakas Tungo sa Pagbabago; Ramon Sesdoyro, Norberto Sasa, and Gerald Sam del Rosario.
Prior to this, only Arreza, SBMA chairman Feliciano Salonga, and director Teodoro del Rosario remained in the board after 12 other members were unseated by EO 2.
The said order revoked the services of midnight appointees in the government who were appointed by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on March 1, 2010.
It reportedly affected around 1,000 officials who were either appointed after March 11, 2010, the start of the constitutional ban on appointments before the May 10 elections last year or before March 11, but who took their oath of office or assumed office after March 11.
The 12 affected SBMA board members were: Eddie Tamondong, Mario Garcia, Stefani Saño, Ricardo Coscolluela, Jesus Vicente Magsaysay III, Marivic Pineda, Angelita Cruz, Alvin Capino, Ariel Castro, Jorge Estanislao, Francis Garcia, and Jennifer Ting.
Following the new appointments, Arreza said that investors in the Subic Bay Freeport have likewise welcomed the arrival of the six new SBMA board members.
According to SBFCC president Danny Piano, business locators in Subic are thankful that President Aquino heeded their request to fill the void left by the unseated board members.
Piano added that some of the new board members are very familiar people to the Subic business community.
These include Licuanan, who served as SBMA chairman prior to the appointment of Salonga; and Antonio, son of former SBMA administrator Alfredo Antonio.
Piano said that the SBFCC wrote to President Aquino two months ago, requesting that the SBMA Board be reconstituted immediately.
“We hope that (new directors) can hit the ground running, and that they would help boost Subic’s status as a premier investment center,” Piano added.
“This is good news. Now we can get back to work and resolve some unfinished business,” said SBMA administrator Armand Arreza after the appointments were announced by Malacañang recently.
Arreza said that a lot of pending matters have already accumulated before the SBMA board ever since Executive Order No. 2 (EO 2), which revoked the appointment of some directors, took effect on July 30 last year.
“But now, we have a quorum, so we can do business again,” Arreza added. He said that the six new appointees and the three remaining officials not affected by EO 2 would already comprise a majority in the policy-making body.
The new directors named by President Aquino are former Ayala Land president Francisco Licuanan III; Benjamin Antonio III, president of the Subic Bay Consultancy and Allied Services Corp.; Philip Camara, president of the Zambales-based political party Pinag-isang Lakas Tungo sa Pagbabago; Ramon Sesdoyro, Norberto Sasa, and Gerald Sam del Rosario.
Prior to this, only Arreza, SBMA chairman Feliciano Salonga, and director Teodoro del Rosario remained in the board after 12 other members were unseated by EO 2.
The said order revoked the services of midnight appointees in the government who were appointed by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on March 1, 2010.
It reportedly affected around 1,000 officials who were either appointed after March 11, 2010, the start of the constitutional ban on appointments before the May 10 elections last year or before March 11, but who took their oath of office or assumed office after March 11.
The 12 affected SBMA board members were: Eddie Tamondong, Mario Garcia, Stefani Saño, Ricardo Coscolluela, Jesus Vicente Magsaysay III, Marivic Pineda, Angelita Cruz, Alvin Capino, Ariel Castro, Jorge Estanislao, Francis Garcia, and Jennifer Ting.
Following the new appointments, Arreza said that investors in the Subic Bay Freeport have likewise welcomed the arrival of the six new SBMA board members.
According to SBFCC president Danny Piano, business locators in Subic are thankful that President Aquino heeded their request to fill the void left by the unseated board members.
Piano added that some of the new board members are very familiar people to the Subic business community.
These include Licuanan, who served as SBMA chairman prior to the appointment of Salonga; and Antonio, son of former SBMA administrator Alfredo Antonio.
Piano said that the SBFCC wrote to President Aquino two months ago, requesting that the SBMA Board be reconstituted immediately.
“We hope that (new directors) can hit the ground running, and that they would help boost Subic’s status as a premier investment center,” Piano added.
