The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) welcomed the issuance of Administrative Order (AO) No. 11 which lifts the moratorium on the development of new economic zones and IT parks in Metro Manila, an official said over the weekend.
The new policy, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Nov. 24, allows PEZA to process and evaluate applications for the establishment of IT parks/centers in the region, subject to certain conditions.
“We laud the OP’s issuance of AO No. 11, which amends AO No.18 that declared a moratorium in 2019 on the proclamation of economic zones in the National Capital Region. AO No.11 now allows the PEZA processing and evaluation of applications for the establishment particularly of IT Parks/Centers in Metro Manila subject to certain conditions,” said PEZA director-general Theo Panga.
PEZA said the policy aims to respect the rights of IT center developers whose applications were pre-qualified by PEZA prior to the moratorium, facilitate job generation by allowing new and expanding IT locator investors to move forward with their projects and sustain the growth of the robust IT sector.
AO 11 also opens doors for local government units (LGUs) in Metro Manila outside the five major central business districts of Makati City, BGC in Taguig, Alabang in Muntinlupa, Quezon City and Pasig City to process prequalified IT developer applications and host IT investments.
PEZA also said AO 11 does not contradict the goals of AO No. 18. It said while AO 11 allows processing of existing applications in NCR, it also directs PEZA to not accept new applications for IT parks/centers in Metro Manila.
“We welcome this OP directive as it supports our countryside development strategy and the IBPAP’s push for the next wave of cities and municipalities to host the new PEZA IT parks for a more effective industry dispersion. Under the enhanced CREATE More regime, we hope to attract more ecozone developer and locator investments that will generate the much-needed jobs and growth in all the regions,” Panga said.