Pamintuan is new Subic-Clark chief
By Tonette T. Orejas
CLARK ECOZONE -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appointed former secretary for external affairs Edgardo Pamintuan as chair of the Subic-Clark Area Development Council, which has also been elevated to a Cabinet rank.
Pamintuan, a lawyer, filled in the post left by former Ayala Land president Francisco Licuanan III who resigned in August last year in disagreement over some of Arroyo's choices of appointees at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.
The 56-year-old secretary said his appointment came on Friday.
Pamintuan is the only Kapampangan in the newly revamped Cabinet.
According to him, Arroyo also repealed Executive Order 478 placing the Bases Conversion Development Authority, SBMA, and the Clark Development Corp. under the policy direction of the Department of Trade and Industry. The EO was issued on December 19, 2005.
He said all base conversion bodies created by Congress in 1992 through Republic Act 7227 would be supervised now by his office.
"The President has tasked me to lead in synergizing the development and growth of Subic and Clark as major economic engines in the country. She wants greater focus and efforts on these," Pamintuan said, referring to one of the programs in the 10-point agenda laid down by the President in 2004.
Subic in Bataan and Zambales and Clark in Pampanga and Tarlac were the largest military bases of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region until 1991.
The Philippine government converted these into investment parks, utilizing the facilities like the airport and seaport for economic activities.
Arroyo wanted Subic and Clark to be the best logistics hub in Southeast Asia.
In April last year, the Arroyo administration began the construction of the P21-billion, Japanese-funded Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway project to provide a connecting infrastructure to the ecozones as well as the Luisita Industrial Park.
Pamintuan, as a former mayor of Angeles City, his hometown, was involved in the initial years of the base conversion process made doubly hard by the eruptions of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 when the US military began the pullout.
He also served as general manager of the National Housing Authority before heading the Office of the External Affairs.
In March 2004, Pamintuan helped reopen the government's communication lines with the Communist Party of the Philippines and National Democratic Front for the stalled peace negotiations.
During the Marcos regime, he went underground, got jailed and when released, resumed law studies at the San Beda College and worked as a human rights lawyer under the Mabini (Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity and Nationalism).
CDC president and chief executive officer Antonio Ng called Pamintuan's appointment as "highly positive for Central Luzon."
"A proven patriot, he can be counted on to do what is right for the common good. A man of few words, Ed is pragmatic, focused on actions," Ng said. SUN STAR
CLARK ECOZONE -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appointed former secretary for external affairs Edgardo Pamintuan as chair of the Subic-Clark Area Development Council, which has also been elevated to a Cabinet rank.
Pamintuan, a lawyer, filled in the post left by former Ayala Land president Francisco Licuanan III who resigned in August last year in disagreement over some of Arroyo's choices of appointees at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.
The 56-year-old secretary said his appointment came on Friday.
Pamintuan is the only Kapampangan in the newly revamped Cabinet.
According to him, Arroyo also repealed Executive Order 478 placing the Bases Conversion Development Authority, SBMA, and the Clark Development Corp. under the policy direction of the Department of Trade and Industry. The EO was issued on December 19, 2005.
He said all base conversion bodies created by Congress in 1992 through Republic Act 7227 would be supervised now by his office.
"The President has tasked me to lead in synergizing the development and growth of Subic and Clark as major economic engines in the country. She wants greater focus and efforts on these," Pamintuan said, referring to one of the programs in the 10-point agenda laid down by the President in 2004.
Subic in Bataan and Zambales and Clark in Pampanga and Tarlac were the largest military bases of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region until 1991.
The Philippine government converted these into investment parks, utilizing the facilities like the airport and seaport for economic activities.
Arroyo wanted Subic and Clark to be the best logistics hub in Southeast Asia.
In April last year, the Arroyo administration began the construction of the P21-billion, Japanese-funded Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway project to provide a connecting infrastructure to the ecozones as well as the Luisita Industrial Park.
Pamintuan, as a former mayor of Angeles City, his hometown, was involved in the initial years of the base conversion process made doubly hard by the eruptions of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 when the US military began the pullout.
He also served as general manager of the National Housing Authority before heading the Office of the External Affairs.
In March 2004, Pamintuan helped reopen the government's communication lines with the Communist Party of the Philippines and National Democratic Front for the stalled peace negotiations.
During the Marcos regime, he went underground, got jailed and when released, resumed law studies at the San Beda College and worked as a human rights lawyer under the Mabini (Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity and Nationalism).
CDC president and chief executive officer Antonio Ng called Pamintuan's appointment as "highly positive for Central Luzon."
"A proven patriot, he can be counted on to do what is right for the common good. A man of few words, Ed is pragmatic, focused on actions," Ng said. SUN STAR
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