Transcript of Sen. Pia Cayetano's co-sponsorship speech on Bulacan Airport City Special Ecozone

Thank you, Mr President.

Mr President, I rise to express my support as a co-sponsor of this measure, not as Chairman of the Committee on Blue Ribbon, but as a Chairman of the Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, Innovation, and Futures Thinking.

Mr President, on point, Mr President, in this bill is SDG 11, which is Sustainable Cities and Communities; and also SDG 8, Decent Work and Livelihood.

Mr President, we have long espoused for the decongestion of Metro Manila and opportunities for work in other communities outside the big metropolitan areas, whether it is Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, or Metro Davao. And this is an example of that, Mr President. And the fact that I am a Bulacena, my grandfather, our grandfather hails from Marilao, Bulacan. We are very happy for these opportunities.

Just a little bit of history, Mr President... In the last Congress, this representation was the Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, and our only concern during that time, because as Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, was consistency in our policies, we had manifested our concern that it be aligned with the policies that we were pushing forward in the Committee on Ways and Means.

And so, with the statement and as reflected in the bill that this is consistent with the CREATE Law, I feel this will provide for more, the level of comfort and confidence of investors would be stronger. Mr President, I wish I didn't have to mention it, but when we speak of constitutional amendments and economic provisions, I will never hesitate to always mention that when I was Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, we spoke often to investors. We studied what mattered to investors, and what mattered was consistency in policies. What mattered was the delivery of basic services like reliable electricity, reliable workforce, the political climate is stable, policies are consistent.

So with that, with the clarification of some of the issues that were raised before, and as far as this representation is concerned, it was just the difference in the CREATE Law, I think this sends a very good signal to our investors and this representation is delighted to be a co-sponsor and looks forward to the passage of this bill. Of course, we will be helpful in whatever, if there are any need for further amendments, we will work with the Chairman on this. But we are happy to be aligned with this measure, Mr. President.

Thank you.