ILOILO CITY — Green energy, tourism, and agro-industry have been put forward as the ideal sectors for special economic zones in Iloilo considering available resources and the needs of the province as well as the city.
Joseph Timothy Rivera, appointed Philippine Economic and Zone Authority (PEZA) special advisor for the Middle East and Northern Europe, said renewable energy would do well for improving Iloilo’s power supply.
“I suggest solar power generation and wind power turbine generation. So that the rates of Panay Electric Company (PECO) will become lower and power outages of Iloilo Electric Cooperative (ILECO) will reduce,” Mr. Rivera, a native of Iloilo, told the local media at the sidelines of last week’s Ecozone Property Development Forum.
PECO is the sole power distributor in Iloilo City while ILECO serves the province.
For tourism, Mr. Rivera, a realtor, suggested building retirement villages within ecozones, where incentives are given to investors.
He cited that the Philippine Countryside Farms & Homeland Development Corp. (PhilCoF) is already setting up two retirement villages in Western Visayas — one in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo and the other in the island province of Guimaras.
Mr. Rivera said he is assisting PhilCoF in its PEZA registration for the two projects.
The PEZA advisor also pointed to the vast idle lands in the province as potential sites for agro-industrial centers.
“Because with more economic zones, more jobs will be generated which is sustainable for the (shift to) federal… government. It is one of the tools and mechanisms to make federalism possible. Each region cannot effectively develop under federalism if they don’t have their own economic growth,” he said.
The Duterte administration is aiming to establish two new economic zones in every city and province in the country.
Mr. Rivera said PEZA is currently coordinating with the planning office of Iloilo City and the provincial government for the identification of the potential sites.
Meanwhile, PEZA is organizing a visit by a Qatar and Kuwaiti business delegation to the province in October for possible investments in ecozones.
He said PEZA is following a “reverse approach” wherein they let investors determine what industry they want to venture into, then the local government would scout for a potential site.
“Seldom could we have investors, like the Arabs, that will just lend you money and let you decide on what type of industry to choose. Normally, investors already have their target,” he said.
Mr. Rivera stressed that ecozones generate more jobs and increase the value of land in the surrounding area. — Louine Hope U. Conserva

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