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Freeport, ecozone defined: Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Committee on Public Services, resumes her defense of Senate Bill No. 2572 or An Act Establishing the Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (BACSEZFA) Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Poe, upon questioning by Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, said that in freeports, there are certain tax incentives and free flowing of goods that are normally not subjected to the regular taxation. She said an economic zone, on the other hand, is an area where there is a designated territory for certain industries to set up, whereby it is zoned as industrial or for whatever purpose that particular area would be designated for business purposes. She said the envisioned Bulacan economic zone and freeport is similar to those in Clark, Subic, Zamboanga and the freeport area of Bataan. Pimentel further inquired if the freeport is a separate territory from the Philippine customs territory, to which Poe replied: “(The Bulacan freeport) will still be administered by the (Bureau of) Customs... one of the provisions of our bill is that there will be an established Customs office and officers to make sure that the ones that are really availing of freeport incentives are duly qualified by BACSEZFA.” The senator further clarified that an industry can be part of the economic zone but cannot be accredited to be part of the free zone or port. (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)