SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Business locators in this premier freeport have expressed their support of the recent appointment of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Administrator Wilma T. Eisma as chairperson of the agency.
In a statement, the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce congratulated Eisma and reiterated their cooperation to help improve Subic’s business environment.
“Moving forward, the locators of Subic Bay expect many great things from Atty. Eisma, which is both a compliment and a heavy burden on her shoulders,” the SBFCC statement said.
“Being the Chamber and the voice of the business community, we are here to support her endeavors that will improve the business environment of Subic. In the same breadth, we are also here so that her leadership and policies will be fair to all the stakeholders of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone,” it added.
The SBFCC, headed by businesswoman Rose Baldeo, issued the statement following the appointment of Eisma as SBMA chairperson. President Duterte issued Executive Order No. 42 that expressly revoked the separation of the positions of chairman and administrator of SBMA under EO 340 signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004.
Duterte repealed the Arroyo order after a leadership row erupted between Eisma and former SBMA Chairman Martin Diño, who tried to assume the powers of the administrator.
The conflict, Subic stakeholders noted, put much strain on the agency and the freeport itself.
The SBFCC recalled that Subic locators had urged for a clear definition of the leadership roles in the government-owned and controlled corporation to resolve the issue.
“Like what we said during the height of the recent leadership row, we requested the House of Representatives and Malacañang to step in and make the necessary decisions that would clarify the roles of both parties for the sake of the investors of Subic Bay; if not, then to choose one that would lead the SBMA, to avoid further confusion among the locators and even within the ranks of the SBMA,” the SBFCC said.
The statement also thanked Diño for the assistance he gave the locators during his few months in Subic. “We are confident that Mr. Diño is more than capable of handling the next government position that the President will assign to him,” it added.
Meanwhile, Eisma thanked the various sectors in the Subic Freeport community for their support, as she aims to unite all sectors of the freeport community by promoting “malasakit” or caring for each other.
“My purpose is to unite all of us,” she said, adding that politics had sometimes reared its ugly head in the Subic Bay Freeport.
“We must be brought back to the basics: the basics of caring for each other, the basics of caring for SBMA. Because if we will do ‘malasakit’ for others, we will forget our personal agenda, and just take care of each other and take care for SBMA,” Eisma said.