CEBU, Philippines - Cebu First District Rep. Eduardo Gullas intends to re-file the bill that seeks to make Cebu a special economic zone and the proposal to establish a Light Rail Transit System in Cebu.
Gullas said making Cebu a special economic zone will create more jobs and more incentives for investors while the LRT will benefit residents of the entire Cebu province because it is a cost efficient, modern and reliable transport system that would cope up with the province’s rapid population growth.
Gullas first filed the ecozone bill in the 13th and 14th Congress, respectively. The bill, however, was not passed until Congress adjourned for the 2010 elections.
The bill was supposed to be heard last January, but one of its authors, outgoing Cebu North District Rep. Raul del Mar, happened to be outside the country at that time.
In a press conference yesterday, Gullas reiterated that converting Cebu into an ecozone will spur economic development. Fifth District Rep. Ramon “Red” Durano VI, chairman of the house committee on economic affairs, said earlier that Cebu can be a hub of three industries – gun manufacturing, ship building and information.
Gullas said the Department of Finance is expected to oppose the proposal, as it would reduce the income of the national government because Cebu would already be exempted from real property taxes.
Gullas filed the ecozone bill with the support of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Cebu Business Club and several other Cebu legislators.
The project aims to encourage the influx of more investments into the province by building up the necessary capabilities, creating an enabling environment and reducing the cost of doing business in the area.
“Cebu has all the infrastructures that it needs. We are ready to be an economic zone,” Gullas said.
Meanwhile, Gullas said he is bent on pushing for the realization of the LRT in Cebu despite the opposition from outgoing Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña. Osmeña himself was elected congressman for the city’s south district.
“I am confident that the construction of the LRT will push through. The project will not only benefit the Cebu City residents but the entire Cebuano people,” Gullas said.
Osmeña strongly criticized the project as being “anti-poor” due to its high cost of fare and it will not disperse industrialization which runs counter to his proposed BRT.
On a separate issue, Gullas criticized the claim of Osmeña that the South Road Properties or SRP is the brainchild of the latter.
“Dili na tinuod iyang claim. That is not true. The so-called SRP now was then name as Cebu City South and Talisay Reclamation that was conceptualized when I was the chairman of the Regional Development Council from 1976 to 1986,” Gullas said.
Gullas was then governor of Cebu when the conceptualization of the said project reportedly took place as component of the Metro Cebu Development Project I.
Other projects identified under MCDP I were the second Mandaue-Mactan bridge or the Marcelo Fernan Bridge and the 3,000-hectare Cordova reclamation project. — THE FREEMAN