While the government is keen on allowing the relocation of key government offices to New Clark City, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said it will be difficult to do this “in one go.”
BCDA president Vince Dizon said it will not be easy for BCDA to arrange for the simultaneous relocation of the different agencies.
“There are a lot of factors to be considered. That is why the initial recommendation is to relocate initially and slowly build that up towards full relocation. But I must say, the first one to relocate was the Department of Transportation and this is a bold move. But for other agencies, it will require a more staggered and phased approach. The important thing is that it is on the way,” he said Monday at the Sulong Pilipinas: A Pre-SONA Economic Development and Infrastructure Cluster Forum.
Executive Order No. 21, signed and enforced in 2020, instructs all government offices to start the relocation process to NCC as soon as possible.
Dizon assured the phased relocation will happen over the next two years and should continue in the next administration as the ongoing development “has already attracted major government agencies to relocate to New Clark City, beginning with UP-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH).”
He said Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will begin construction of a 30-hectare facility, which includes the minting and currency production facility that is currently in East avenue in Quezon City, and will relocate in new Clarke city in the next few years. Construction of the minting facility will begin by the last quarter of 2021or 2022.
The Supreme Court will likewise build its first Judiciary Regional Center in a 6-hectare property in NCC beginning 2022 while the Department of Agriculture has signed for a 30-hectare agri-industrial hub and National Seed Technology Park which will start construction within the year.
The National Academy of Sports will also build a 3-hectare training facility for athletes.
Dizon cited a key project for the country’s pandemic response in the future, the Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines by the Department of Science and Technology, will also find its home in Clark.
“The National Bureau of Investigation will be moving to a huge facility, together with other judicial justice agencies in the coming months,” he added.
