ILOILO City – House Bill 5794 (An Act Creating the Metro Iloilo Special Economic Zone and Free Port or MILOECOZONE) passed the scrutiny of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Economic Affairs and Committee on Trade and Industry yesterday.
The proposed special economic zone and free port encompasses the Iloilo International Port in Barangay Loboc, La Paz district and available public and reclaimed lands in barangays Bitoon and Balabago in Jaro district and in barangays Hinactacan, San Isidro, Ingore and Loboc in La Paz district.
The zone is seen to attract more investors to Iloilo.
If realized, it will be the first in Western Visayas and second in the Visayas and Mindanao, according to proponent Cong. Julienne Baronda of this city.
The special economic zone and free port will “bring positive change for the City of Iloilo and the entire Western Visayas though jobs generation and investments,” she added.
The Metro Iloilo Economic Zone and Freeport complements the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, she stressed.
By creating more jobs, improving social services, encouraging innovation and connecting the countryside to growth centers, poverty will be reduced and development in rural areas will be accelerated, Baronda explained.
“We have been dependent on the agriculture and services sectors all this time. Now, we want to expand and we want to diversify. We will welcome investors. We will offer them one of the best investment climates the Philippines can offer. The centerpiece of all that is the ecozone,” according to the first-termer congressowoman.
Under the bill, a tax rate of five percent on gross income earned will be collected from the locators with no other local or national taxes to be imposed.
The enterprises to be registered with the economic zone authority may enjoy income tax holiday or the net operating loss carry over prior to the availment of the gross income earned.
All fiscal incentives under the proposed law will be terminated after a cumulative period of 20 years from the date of registration, or the start of operation./PN
