Friday, February 13, 2009 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
By Merlinda A. Pedrosa
MAYOR Evelio Leonardia said he will ask the City Legal Office to determine the impact of the reclamation application of Bacolod Real Estate Development Corporation (Bredco) on the City Government’s move to take over port operation.
Interviewed separately, City Legal Officer Allan Zamora said as long as the Bacolod port is not included in the 250 hectares that Bredco wants to convert into a special economic zone, there is nothing to worry about.
Bredco filed its application with Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza).
Zamora said he has yet to hear from the mayor about the matter but would check initially with Peza if Bredco included the city port in its application.
“If the Bacolod port is included, then the takeover of port operation must be pushed through,” he added.
The proposal to convert 250 hectares of reclamation area reportedly aims to generate jobs for thousands of Bacoleños.
Bredco reportedly plans to pour in millions of pesos in investments to realize the project, which is expected to be fully operational by June this year.
Bredco legal counsel Roseller Maalat said the application for accreditation would not affect the legal battle they have against the city concerning port operation.
Peza, in its website, explained that before a property can be declared a special economic zone, the applicant must submit for evaluation an application with attachments.
The application will then be handed to the Peza board that will submit it for Presidential Proclamation requirements, and this will take from 10 to 20 days.
Following the issuance of a Presidential Proclamation and before the signing of a registration agreement, the applicant will be asked to also submit pre-registration requirements.
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