SBMA TURN-OVER

Outgoing SBMA Administrator Fredie Antonio (r) turned over the helm of SBMA to the new SBMA Chairman Fil Salonga (middle) and Administrator/CEO Arman Arreza in a simple ceremony held this afternoon at SUBAC, SBF. Both man said they are glad to be back, Arreza being one of the original Subic Volunteers while Salonga had spent ten years in Subic Bay as President of the Philippine Shipyard and Engineering Corp (PhilSECo).

Arreza considers his appointment to SBMA a homecoming, “it’s a great honor to see and be with old friends and fellow volunteers."

His priorities in Subic are:

1. The need to restore financial health of SBMA, citing that last year, PhP900M loss was recorded. He will do this by being expeditious, by being prudent in the use of government resources, and by bringing in more investors.

2. To keep Subic clean, not only in the offices but also around Subic including the Bay itself. “Our mandate and mission is bawal ang tamad, bawal ang tanga, at lalong bawal ang magnanakaw."

Approval of investments will be fast-tracked; this will be done by minimizing bureaucracy and professionalizing the workforce. He will re-instill the awesome spirit of volunteerism that made Subic what it is today, spirit that made Subic great . . . . ang pagmamalasakit.

Subic must be out there in the communities and not confined in the walls of the Freeport. Supporting this is called malasakit. SBMA will build a partnership between locators, community and employees.

He emphasized the need to revive the sense of volunteerism and sense of pagmamalasakit which he defined as the feeling for others . . . . giving ourselves to others . . . the spirit that volunteers exemplify when they give everything for the community and the country.

In the middle of his speech, Arreza presented to the delight of the volunteers, a paper with his name traced from the Volunteers' Shrine that he did while on his way to accept this new assignment. He then went on to say that in the new administration, “bawal ang tamad, bawal ang tanga, at lalong bawal ang magnanakaw at mangongotong!”

For his part, Chairman Salonga gave a relatively short speech, starting with "I'm glad to be back!" and went on to say that the best job security is performance. He promised that his job as SBMA Chairman will be the best performance of his life.

Olongapo City Mayor James "Bong" Gordon, Jr. with City Councilors Cynthia Cajudo, Bella Asuncion, Elmo Aquino, Bebeth Marzan and Edwin Piano warmly welcomed the new SBMA officials.