CABANATUAN CITY – Business and job opportunities in Nueva Ecija, a province largely dependent on agricultural
economy, particularly rice, are expanding due to the “pockets of economies” coming to the province starting this year, according to Gov. Aurelio Umali.
“Huge big ticket projects are now either under implementation or are set to be implemented that will provide job opportunities and the opening up of businesses in various fronts,” Umali said in a dialogue with newsmen here recently.
Among them, the governor said, are the business hub and government center, the P80-million “bagsakan center”, the transfer of the National Bilibid Prison (NBP) to the province, the construction of an expressway from Tarlac to San Jose City, and some other big private businesses.
Estimates show that the projects mentioned by the governor have a total development costs of at least P70 billion. For the transfer of the NBP inside the Fort Magsay-say camp alone, which was already green-lighted by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the construction cost will be more than P50 billion.
Umali said the P1.6 billion business hub and government center will be developed starting this month on a 3.4-hectare in Barangay Singalat in Palayan City, about 18 kilometers north of here.
It will be bankrolled by the MTD Philippines, a subsidiary of Malaysian Conglomorate ALLOY MTD, in cooperation with the provincial government of Nueva Ecija on a build-operate-transfer scheme. The site was made available through the efforts of Palayan City Mayor Adrianne Mae Cuevas, the governor said.
“When completed, it will generate 13,000 jobs, 10,000 of which will be in call center, with the rest to come from the operations of the various commercial establishments, the hotel and the national government offices,” Umali said
Facilities of this project include buildings for government offices with retail and commercialspaces, two state-ofthe- art business process outsourcing (BPO) buildings, a 75-room business hotel and a plaza to serve as activity center. Umali said currently under construction is an P80-million bagsakan center” in Barangay Caalibangbangan here.
The center, which will serve as a trading post for various Nueva Ecija– produced products, is jointly financed by the Department of Agriculture and the provincial government, he said. The Central Luzon Link Expressway(CLLEx), on the other hand, has a total length of 65.4 kilometers.
To be connected to the Subic- Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), it will diverge 2.5 kilometers north of the Luisita Interchange and will wind up to San Jose City passing thru Cabanatuan City. Its construction will be in two phases.
Phase I of the project which will end up in this city has a construction cost of P11.359 billion. It will be started third quarter of this year, the governor said. Phase II of the project, from this city to San Jose City, is 35.7 km. in road length with a construction cost of P7.64 billion. It will be constructed after the completion of the Phase I of CLLEx.
But the “mother of all infrastructure projects” coming to Nueva Ecija are the facilities of the P50.18- billion national penitentiary on a 500-hectare area in Barangay Nazareth in Gen. Tinio town . The site is within the army reservation.
Officials said the construction of the prison facilities in Fort Magsaysay will need about 40, 000 workers. In addition, the facilities will need some 4,800 custodial and rehabilitation officers and 9,000 people for prison maintenance.
When completed, the facilities can accommodate 26,880 inmates from the NBP and the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW).. Department of Justice DOJ) UndersecretaryFrancisco Baraan, who is the department’s upervising official of the Bureau of Correctionsand the NBP, said during a public hearing in Calayan City last year that the new “bilibid’s” facility will follow international standards.
“I can assure you that this prison facility will have the 4Ms with it : maganda, malinis, maayos, maaliwalas (elegant, clean, orderly and with a cozy ambience),” he said. “The place and the facilities can even become a tourism mecca,” he added.
The NBP’s new site is a few kilometers from the 2,018-hectare Minalungao National Park centered along the scenic Peñaranda River bordered on both sides by up to 16-meter high limestone walls on the foothills of the Sierra Made range.
Aside from the unique rock formations, the park owns subterranean caverns. Umali said the NBP’s transfer to Nueva Ecija will trigger production of more food products and opening up of several business enterprises to serve the needs of the inmates as well as the thousands of their close relatives and friends who will visit them every now and then.
In this city, under construction in a 13.5-hectare site along the Maharlika Highway in Barangay H. Concepcion,is the SM City Cabanatuan shopping mall. It is heralded by officials of the SM Supermalls as the biggest of their malls in Luzon outside of Metro Manila. It is set to operate during the fourth quarter of this year.
