SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — Despite some business difficulties during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of workers in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone registered a continuing growth and reached a yearend total of 142,177 last year.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said Subic’s job generation effort was buoyed by new investments and expansions in the services and manufacturing sectors, which now respectively hire 72% and 15% of the current workforce in the Freeport.

Eisma said the 3,190 Subic-registered companies that now provide various services here employ a total of 102,540 workers, while 93 manufacturing firms have a total of 21,529 employees.

On the other hand, the 237 construction companies operating in Subic employ a total of 12,225 workers, while 112 companies engaged in shipbuilding and marine-related services hire a total of 5,884 workers.

“It’s true that some of the companies here have closed or were forced to reduce their manpower complement because of the pandemic, but overall, the number of workers in Subic actually increased by 1.03% in 2020 and by 2.31% last year,” Eisma said.

“So, this means that Subic has been coping very well with the challenges posed by the current health crisis, and was finding new opportunities for businesses to survive and even prosper,” she added.

Eisma also pointed out that except for a .32% decrease in workforce count in 2009, the Subic Freeport has been riding an upward trend in job generation since 1999 when the total number of workers stood at 19,969.
“From there, our count continuously climbed to 55,875 in 2004; 88,450 in 2010; 112,653 in 2016; and finally, 142,177 in 2021,” Eisma said.

She added that even with the closure in 2019 of the Hanjin shipyard, which used to employ some 35,000 workers, Subic still registered a manpower increase of 1.37% that year.

“This was because job generation has been the top priority in Subic, as this was the reason for its being—to provide jobs, especially to those who lost theirs when the Subic Naval Base closed in 1992. And we’re proud that since then, Subic has been able to fulfill its mandate,” Eisma said.

According to SBMA Labor Department manager Melvin L. Varias, most of the workers employed in the Subic Freeport come from Olongapo City, which contributed a total of 62,201 or 43.75%, and Zambales, with 25,756 workers or 18.12% of the total.

Next is Bataan with 17,764 (12.49%); National Capital Region with 5,310 (3.73%); Pampanga, 4,388 (3.09%); Tarlac, 1,950 (1.37%); and other areas, 24,808 (17.45%).

Just last December, Varias said that a total of 2,062 workers were hired by Subic firms, mostly in the services (1,519) and manufacturing (494) sectors.

Varias said that as of December 2021, the Subic workforce is comprised of 101,113 male workers, or 71.12% of the total, and 41,064 females, or 28.88%.

He added that the biggest employers in Subic today are Datian Subic Shoes, Inc. with a total of 4,697 employees; Philippine Easepal Technology Ltd. Corp. with 2,766; EZ Set Tong Lung (Phils,) Metal Industry Co., 2,681; Sanyo Denki Phils. Inc., 1,375; and Exact Star Subic Bay Corp., 1,247 workers.

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has placed among the top 12 finalists in the award for “Best in Tourism Practice During the Pandemic” during the 22nd National Convention of the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines (ATOP).

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the Subic agency was recognized for its Covid-19 safety protocols that brought about a safe environment for “bubble” events in the Subic Bay Freeport in the past two years.

“This is only proof that the restrictions and safety standards that we practice like wearing masks, social distancing, disinfecting and most importantly the continuous vaccination of our stakeholders, are all working in ensuring the safety of our visitors,” Eisma said on Wednesday.

“Again, this only shows that our efforts in battling Covid-19 are paying off. Tourists and visitors feel safer to travel in Subic because we have kept our Covid cases low compared to other travel destinations,” she added.

Eisma also thanked ATOP and the Department of Tourism for recognizing the continuing efforts of the SBMA in keeping the Freeport safe not only tourists and visitors, but for business stakeholders as well.

The “Best in Tourism Practice During the Pandemic” award was given as a special category to highlight innovative tourism activities, as main or support operations to the safety of the community, during the times of Covid-19 pandemic. The SBMA competed for the award along with 32 other government agencies and local government units.

The tourism industry was considered the hardest-hit sector during the pandemic, thus necessitating resilient practices among stakeholders to sustain growth.

In the Subic Bay area, Eisma said the SBMA was the first to impose temperature scans at the onset of the pandemic, as well as strict entry protocols during lockdowns and high alert levels. Later on, it initiated a vaccination program for Freeport residents and workers to help keep Covid-19 infections at bay.

“In the course of implementing strict healthy safety practices, Subic became known as a safe haven for various sports events and conferences under the bubble concept,” Eisma pointed out.

“By placing premium on safety, we succeeded in attracting more business and find more opportunities to sustain the local economy,” she added.

SBMA records indicated that despite the ongoing pandemic and the resulting travel restrictions, the Subic Bay Freeport recorded an increase in same-day visitor arrivals by as much as 42% since the 2020 lockdown.

Tourist arrivals meanwhile increased by 141% while hotel occupancy almost doubled in number in 2021 compared to 2020 figures.

Eisma also credited the government’s crew-change and repatriation programs that made Subic a busy hub for the processing of incoming and outgoing seafarers, as well as overseas workers and other Filipinos arriving from abroad.

She said these programs saved the tourism industry in Subic amid pandemic travel restrictions.

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is now enforcing stricter safety protocols to ensure the health and safety of visitors to the Subic Bay Freeport amid the recent surge in Covid-19 infections.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said hotels and accommodation facilities here will now require guests to present negative results for Covid-19 antigen tests taken in the past 24 hours or RT-PCR tests released 48 hours prior to check-in.
The new requirement was made effective Monday, January 24, following Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) guidelines placing the surrounding areas of Zambales, Olongapo City, and Bataan under Alert Level 3 on January 6, Eisma said.

“While interzonal travel is allowed under Alert Level 3, we want to take the extra step in ensuring the health and safety of, not only our visitors in the Freeport, but also our local businesses, workers, and stakeholders,” Eisma said.

She added that the SBMA is also checking for vaccination cards among visitors entering the Freeport and required negative RT-PCR test results for the unvaccinated.

Previous Alert Level 3 guidelines from the IATF did not require antigen or RT-PCR tests for interzonal travel except when required by establishments or event organizers. “However, because of the recent surge in Covid-19 infections, there is a need for us to enforce stricter measures for the sake of both visitors and locals, and to keep Subic businesses going,” Eisma stressed.

Recently, Olongapo City, which provides most of the workers in the Subic Bay Freeport, was named as one of the cities with the highest rate of Covid-19 infections. The Subic Freeport, meanwhile, logged 78 active cases for SBFZ residents and 17 for Freeport transient workers and guests as of January 18.

“This is why we have to be more vigilant, and why we should not relax our guard,” Eisma explained.

Along with the hotel requirements, the SBMA also reminded Subic business locators and stakeholders to report possible cases of Covid-19 to the SBMA Public Health and Safety Department, pointing out that failure to do so shall be grounds for the cancellation of their certificates of registration.

Eisma said that under Republic Act 11332, or the “Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act,” persons and entities who will not report Covid-19 cases or respond to Covid-19 health events may be fined from P20,000 to P50,000.

Business establishments in the Freeport were also required to announce to the public if they have been temporarily closed because of any recently confirmed Covid-19 case in their premises, she added.

Eisma said that both the SBMA and neighboring local government units have been increasing their target vaccinations and booster rollout to keep Covid-19 cases low and not overwhelm the healthcare system. “As the SBMA and neighbor-LGUs have proven well in the past, we are stronger together in every common undertaking,” she said.

She added that while the SBMA is not an LGU, it has initiated a vaccine drive primarily for Freeport employees, health workers, and residents. “At the end of the day, we can only beat Covid-19 if we practice malasakit and help each other,” she said.

The Subic chief also reminded the general public that while restrictions are in place, the Subic Bay Freeport Zone is still very much open to everyone and will continue to be the premier business hub in this part of the country.

“As long as we follow the minimum health and safety standards like always wearing mask, keeping safe distance, frequent handwashing or disinfection, and, of course, getting vaccinated, we will get over this new surge as we have had before,” Eisma said.

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has generated a total of P65.73 million in income from participating in the government’s crew-change program that facilitated the safe and speedy travel of Filipino and foreign seafarers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the additional revenue was realized after 16 months of processing seafarers following the designation of the Subic Bay Freeport as a crew-change hub in September 2020.
The total income came from the P14.64 million that was earned from September to December 2020, and the P51.09 million that was collected in the 12 months last year.
Eisma pointed out this did not include income earned by local hotels and other tourism-related businesses that provided quarantine rooms and other services for the disembarked seamen.
“The P65.7-million income is an additional windfall that SBMA earned by banking on Subic’s strict enforcement of health safety protocols,” Eisma noted.
“And it was realized after Subic took the opportunity—despite initial disapproval by some neighboring LGUs—to provide much-needed service at a time when only a few ports wanted to take in seafarers because of the virus threat,” she added.
Eisma said that the SBMA decided favorably on the crew-change project because it would not only bring crewmen home to their families, but would also help unlock congestion in ports and reboot the global supply chain that has been heavily impacted by the pandemic.
According to the SBMA Seaport Department, a total of 254 crew-change operations were undertaken in Subic in the 16 months since September 2020. These involved 62 vessels in 2020 and 192 ships in 2021.
On the average, around 12 to 15 ships arrive in Subic each month for crew change, said Seaport general manager Jerome Martinez. But on busy times as many as 25 ships could call in Subic in a month, as they did in June last year, or even 33 as they did last November.
The ships arrive either to take in new on-signers to refresh the crew, or disembark off-signers who must go on vacation or visit their families.
Martinez said that in the last 16 months, the port of Subic was able to process a total of 2,001 on-signers, of which 1,931 were Filipinos and 70 were foreigners of various nationalities.
At the same time, a total of 1,927 off-signers came onshore through Subic. These included 1,743 Filipinos and 184 foreigners, Martinez said.
The seafarers arrived in all kinds of ships like the MT Dapeng Star, a liquified natural gas tanker which was the first vessel to call in Subic under the crew-change program; MV Mindoro, a Panama-flagged vehicles carrier; MT Jason, a chemical tanker from Marshall Islands; MT Euro Integrity, a Liberian-flagged crude oil tanker; MV Nine Eagle, a Panama-flagged livestock carrier; and CS Cable Retriever, a dredging and cable-laying ship based in Singapore.
Aside from Subic and the Manila South Harbor, the other designated crew-change hubs in the country are in the port of Batangas, Port of Cebu, Port Capinpin in Orion, Bataan and Port of Sasa in Davao.
Under the crew change program, disembarking seafarers have to quarantine in facilities designated under the One Stop Shop (OSS) for Seafarers until testing negative in RT-PCR Covid-19 test which is taken on the sixth day after arrival.

Meeting over the weekend under strict quarantine protocols due to the ongoing Covid19 pandemic, they elected an interim set of officers to start the process of obtaining a juridical personality for the association named Kalayaan Subic Bay Neighborhood Association.

“We hope to be of help in keeping the residents’ welfare always on the agenda of SBMA,” elected interim president Frankie Barretto told Subic Bay News, “We believe SBMA wants that too, thus, the association.”

Other elected officers were Benny Triguero, vice president; Analyn Victorio, treasurer; Paolo Barretto, secretary; Francis Rivero, auditor; Roseller Hilario and Dr. Ed Bongco, public relations officers; and, Gigi Montelibano and Susan Seva, business managers.

Among the priorities spelled out in the meeting include close coordination with the security agency management that has a contract with SBMA to render security services in the area.

“We want to make sure that the guards will be really out there protecting the community,” Barretto said, “and we intend to help them do it.”

“We will raise funds to purchase bicycles for the guards’ mobility and preparedness,” Barretto said, “as well as first aid kits.”

Other talking points the association intends to bring to the office of SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma include the ingress and egress hours at Kalayaan gate, regular grass cutting and tree trimming, and disaster preparedness.

Residents of two other major residential areas in the Subic Bay Freeport, namely Binictican Housing, and Cubi, have yet to have a similar association. (VVV)

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma confirmed that the neighboring communities of Olongapo City and Subic Bay Freeport continue working together to promote progress and development for their common stakeholders.

“We’re on the same page,” Eisma said on Friday, stressing that friendship and cooperation had long been the cornerstone of Subic-Olongapo relations.

“I believe that we have a shared mission, that we have to get our acts together despite some friction that crop up in the minutiae of operations, which is but normal between two separate entities that work in close proximity,” she added.

Eisma asserted this a day after Olongapo City Mayor Rolen “Len J” Paulino Jr., in an interview with Press Secretary Martin Andanar over Radyo Pilipinas, described a “symbiotic” relationship between Subic and Olongapo.

The mayor’s pronouncement belied charges made recently on social media that the SBMA lacked coordination with city officials on matters like Covid-19 control measures and that it was building a “wall” between the two communities.

In the said interview, Mayor Paulino stressed that the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and Olongapo City have a mutually beneficial relationship and that coordination between the two entities has boosted the local economy.

“Actually, the relationship is very symbiotic; it’s mutual. Olongapo supplies manpower (to) the Subic Bay Freeport, and on the other hand, the Freeport is, of course, a major source of employment for Olongapo residents,” Paulino explained.

“It’s a big help, in addition to the business establishments here in Olongapo,” he added.

Paulino also told Andanar that the city government and SBMA had coordinated with each other in establishing health safety measures after the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.

“We continue to coordinate with each other to ensure the control of Covid transmission, so that we can also prevent business disruption. And, of course, when we ensure the continuity of business operations, we also ensure the financial security of our people,” he added.

Following this, Eisma said the SBMA will further initiate cooperation projects with Olongapo and other local government units near the Subic Bay Freeport to improve local response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This is another common ground where we can pool our resources and contribute best practices so that we can balance health and economy, and together beat Covid-19,” Eisma said. “In fact, we have already agreed to regularly meet to discuss Covid-19 strategies.”

She also confirmed that the neighboring city is the biggest provider of workers in the Freeport, with a total of 58,957 as of June this year, or almost 43 percent of the Subic workforce. Because of this, Olongapo consistently receives the biggest revenue share from the SBMA among the eight beneficiary local government units contiguous to the Freeport, she added.

Eisma also put to rest the issue that the SBMA is building a wall to separate the Freeport from Olongapo, whose original Spanish-era settlement now comprises the Freeport’s central business district. She clarified that the agency is simply replacing the US Navy-era cyclone wire fence with concrete to avoid costly repairs.

“We are not building a wall to divide the Subic-Olongapo community. What we are actually doing is protecting the single biggest local asset that Olongapeños and other stakeholders in Zambales and Bataan have built and nurtured all through these years,” Eisma said.

“This is our legacy and it is our common task to protect it,” she added.