PEZA is certainly doing its part in generating much-needed jobs for our country.
With 2,950 locators employing 937,517 Filipinos directly in 281 special economic zones all over the country, and generating about 3.6 million jobs indirectly, PEZA is definitely one of the major job generators in the Philippines.
Under the able stewardship of Director-General Lilia de Lima, who has continuously served under four presidents, the efficiency and success of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has been recognized by the World Bank as the “Model for Best Practices” among economic zones all over the world. It has a longstanding reputation as an attractive investment area with no corruption, no red tape, and a one-stop shop for regulatory needs and nonstop services to sustain 24/7 operations.
I know first-hand the impact of a PEZA zone in a locality. When I was governor of Laguna (1995-2001), I would meet Director-General De Lima almost every week to inaugurate factories and offices of new locators in the Laguna PEZA zones. The influx of PEZA investors quickly boosted Laguna’s industrialization program under my watch, making it the number one industrialized province and first billionaire province in terms of income.
Director-General De Lima said in my radio program Sagot Ko‘Yan (DZMM Teleradyo, 8 to 9 a.m. Sundays) that PEZA’s total investments from 1995 to March, 2013, reached R2.359 trillion. Of these, 33.7% (about P796 billion) came within the first three years of the Aquino administration. PEZA exports now account for 76 percent of the country’s total exports.
De Lima said that unlike before when investors ventured mostly into light industries, PEZA firms are now also engaged in heavy industries like shipbuilding in Cebu, to high technology in Baguio that produce sensitive parts for aircraft and cell phones. Agro-industrial ecozones are also reaping success to generate employment especially in the countryside in the processing of agricultural products like corn, banana, coconut, sugarcane, and pineapple.
PEZA’s new ventures are commendable. However, heavy dependence on export industries, which has been the thrust in past decades, has proven to be a vulnerable base for job generation and economic growth. Electronics, for example, comprising 45 percent of our exports, took a steep drop in 2012 when demand for them decreased with the economic downturn of importing countries.
Economic planners ought to revisit strategies aimed at increasing local or foreign investments. Why stop with semi-processing and assembly operations in PEZA zones? With the Philippines supplying about 10 percent of worldwide needs for semiconductors and microchips for two decades now, why not take it a step further and work to fully manufacture end products here, such as cellphones and computers?
Why not encourage investments in basic industries like steel and petrochemicals, which will move us to full manufacturing of finished products with higher values, such as vehicles and machinery? What would it take to get these basic industries going? What steps should be taken to protect them from foreign competition until they become fully developed? What products and services could generate the most jobs for the greatest number of Filipinos?
Of course, problems in energy, infrastructure, and ease in doing business are other priority concerns that government must seriously address to attract more investments.
PEZA’s vaunted operational efficiency that compensates for our country’s inadequate infrastructure and high power costs could be replicated all over by local government units that simplify business requirements with a one-stop shop and strict adherence to the Anti-Red Tape Law.
A variety of competitive incentives, fiscal and non-fiscal, available to PEZA investors include income tax holiday of 4 to 8 years, special tax rate of 5% of gross income in lieu of all national and local taxes, duty-free importation of capital equipment, raw materials, supplies, etc. and permanent resident status for foreign investors and immediate family, among others.
An investment-friendly environment should make doing business in our country easy and quick – very quick, to enable us to cope with the extreme urgency of creating jobs that will ultimately alleviate widespread poverty.

Source: Manila Bulletin - June 4, 2013