“Ang dami pang pwedeng gawin [There’s a lot more to be done],” said Fr. Jose Francisco “Joefran” Talaban after the Senate budget hearing on the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport (APECO) on September 29. “We should not be tired of working for the community, for the development of the people.”

Talaban is an organizer of Task Force Anti-APECO (TFAA), a group that is seeking feasibility studies of APECO’s projects as well as financial accountability for the excess spending that has not yet been justified. TFAA – and supporters of APECO as well – joined a mobilization outside the Senate as leaders inside discussed once again the APECO budget.

APECO was created in 2007 through Republic Act No. 9490 with the goal of boosting economic and industrial development in Aurora and nearby provinces. Covering over 12,923 hectares in the municipality of Casiguran, it was envisioned to attract businesses and investors through tax incentives provided by the government.

Last year, it was settled that the 2015 APECO budget would be cut from Php 251 million to Php 40 million, an amount strictly allotted for maintenance fees.

Anomaly analysis

This year, the TFAA, under the secretariat of the Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan (SLB), advocated for the reduction of the budget allocation for APECO to zero, and a special investigation to be conducted by the Commission on Audit (COA), among other objectives.

During the hearing, SLB executive director Fr. Xavier Alpasa, SJ, together with Aurora native Remy Gutierrez, criticized APECO’s development, citing dilapidated and unusable projects under its intiative.

In his presentation, Alpasa railed against the Php 486M airport built on farmers’ land and its neglect, which led to its disintegration.

“We have the most expensive rice dryer in the world,” quipped Senator Sergio Osmeña III, referring to the airstrip’s current function for farmers.

For his part, Gutierrez raised the fact that the facilities are vulnerable to destruction of typhoons and other natural calamities. On 2013, typhoon Labuyo swept through northern Luzon and damaged most of the facilities built by APECO.

Moreover, the financial irregularities of APECO remain a controversial issue, with the current notice of disallowances amounting to Php 416M, up from Php 335M in 2013.

As per the the 2009 Revised Rules of Procedures of the COA, disallowances refer to “the disapproval in audit of a transaction, either in whole or in part.”

Atty. Christian Monsod, a lawyer for the Casiguran farmers affected by the economic zone and a supporter of TFAA, said that the discrepancy in funds breeds distrust and suspicion.

“There’s so much money there and there’s so much questionable items there that there may be government money in the wrong pockets,” he said.

Conflict of interests

Aside from APECO’s lack of financial accountability, infrastructures that it claimed would be instrumental to a “globally competitive, technologically advanced economic zone” are the same ones displacing the locals and taking away their means of sustainability.

The housing settlement, for example, was built upon irrigated land where natives harvest rice. The construction of the unused airstrip had also led displaced locals to build their own huts with the money Apeco paid them. As the majority of the natives are fisherfolk and farmers, their concern lies in relocation, where they will be farther from their land and livelihood.

In an Inquirer article, fisherman Marlon Angara commented that it was a bad idea to distance the fishermen from the sea. “We won’t be fishermen if we don’t have access to the sea,” he shared.

The illegal cutting of mangroves, among other environmental concerns, was also tackled during the budget hearing. In their presentation, TFAA showed the inconsistency of APECO’s claims of conserving natural resources when there was unauthorized activity detrimental to the environment.

Monsod related the illegal cutting to the discrepancies in APECO’s finances and implementation.

“When they purchased the forest concession of a member of the board of APECO for PHP 120M, why did they do it?” Monsod said. “Because they say, ‘we think we can take better care of the forest’, but look at what is happening in the forest, illegal cutting is still going on.”

He continued, saying the government granted the concession but bought it back with government money on the basis of the present value of expected earnings from the project.

“There’s something wrong with that,” he said.

In a nutshell, Monsod explained that the overall problem lies in the question of bringing necessary services to encourage human development, instead of focusing on the development of a place.

He noted that the Casiguran people prefer to have the allotted funds for APECO to be invested on health and education, and then allow them to seek opportunities elsewhere.

“Build the capacity, and go where the flow of development is, instead of trying to force the issue, with the economic zone that, obviously, is not viable in that area,” Monsod suggested.

Human infrastructure

For his part, APECO president and chief executive officer of Atty. Gerardo Erguiza emphasized that the development of human infrastructure should be the prime concern of APECO and is integral to the success of the economic zone.

“The bottomline here is what is most beneficial to the people, whether or not you are pro or against APECO,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

According to Erguiza, Apeco is still in its gestation period, with only the foundation of the area having been established.

He cited the cases of Subic and Clark economic zones, with budgets of Php 100B and Php 80B respectively. “These two facilities only started to earn income in 2012,” he stated.

Because of this, APECO faces what Erguiza termed a “chicken and egg” problem, where the skepticism regarding the project brings few investors to the project, thus in turn, leading to insufficient funds.

“So there is a question of ‘chicken and egg’, since [Senator Osmeña] said not to put infrastructure there because it was a failure from the very start,” Erguiza said in a mix of English and Filipino.

However, both parties are aware that compromise is necessary and essential to the progress of Casiguran.

“In the dynamics of legislation, [APECO] will be given [a budget], ‘di naman pwede just close the offices, but it should be strictly for a caretaker purpose,” said Monsod.

“While in this position [of reduced funds], gusto namin gawin yung parameters namin ng paglaki at pagkatubo ng mga tao (we want to be able to accomplish much within our parameters in the way of growth and development of the people),” said Erguiza.

As for TFAA, they continue to organize and develop the skills of Casiguran natives so that they can claim their stake in the conversation. With the help of SLB and the Jesuit Volunteers of the Philippines, they provide them alternative livelihood programs such as organic farming and sustainable agriculture.

“Malakas din ang confidence ng mga tao kasi hindi sila nag-iisa (The people’s confidence is strong because they’re not alone)”, Talaban said. “Tapos na itong Senate hearing pero ang laban, tuloy pa rin (The Senate hearing is over but the fight goes on).”

Editor’s note: The original article published on this site mistakenly named one of the Aurora natives Mr. Remy Gutierrez as Mr. Perry Gutierrez. This has since been corrected.