Marcos vetoes bill creating proposed Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport
Citing the possible "substantial fiscal risk" to the government by the proposed Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. vetoed House Bill No. 7575 creating the zone.
In his two-page veto message he sent to the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives last Friday, Marcos said the zone is not a cost effective project for the government.
Press Secretary-designate Trixie Cruz-Angeles said '' the Constitution requires that in case of a veto, the bill shall be returned to the House where it originated, along with the President's objections.''
He noted no less than the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and the Regional Development Council III called for more studies on its feasibility.
"As the system would be rendered incapable of generating a yield sufficient to sustain the country's social and economic infrastructure, the Government would be forced to seek new resources of revenue through additional taxes or borrowings in the future. In the end, it is the taxpayers who will ultimately bear the brunt of the burden," Marcos said.
He also noted that the bill is no longer necessary since Republic Act 11534 or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE) give tax incentives to qualified firms outside of economic zones.
The proposed legislation, he said, also "lacks coherence" with existing laws, rules, and regulations since lacked audit provisions for the Commission on Audit (COA), procedures for expropriation of lands awarded to agrarian reform beneficiaries, and a master plan for the metes and bounds of the economic zone.
It also granted authority of the proposed economic zone authority relative to environmental protection as well as powers to set technical airport operation outside of existing aeronautical laws.
Marcos said the new economic zone will be in close proximity to the Clark Economic Zone, which is "which is against government policy on creating special economic zones in strategic locations."
"In view of these considerations. I am constrained to veto the above mentioned Enrolled Bill (HB 7575)," Marcos said.
The House of Representative passed its version of the bill as early as 2020, while the Senate completed its own version of the bill on May 26 2022. DMS
