Enrile on Gordon: If not for Dick, there's no Subic

Senator Richard J. Gordon has elicited praises from Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and officials of the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) for his efforts in creating the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), the first Freeport in the country.

During a Senate hearing on the bill prescribing fixed terms for members of the Board of Directors of the CDC, Atty. Jose Cornelio Lukban, CDC Legal Counsel, said that "Subic is lucky they had Mayor Gordon speaking on their behalf. Unfortunately, we did not have a Mayor Gordon speaking on behalf of Clark, but thank you very much Senator Gordon for including us. "

Enrile seconded the commendation, saying, "You know that's true. If not for Dick, there would have been no Subic. Nobody was interested in setting up anything in Subic; not because they were not conscious of their responsibilities, but nobody was pushing an idea as to what to do with that very important asset that was left by the Americans in Subic, except Dick Gordon."

Gordon, in turn, thanked Enrile for his support and efforts when the law creating the SBMA was being crafted.

"I could not have done it without the help of Senator Enrile, because among the senators then he was the one, and up to now, the expert in taxation, he was the one who understood what I was talking about in terms of a Freeport," Gordon said.

Section 13 of Republic Act 7227 (Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992) created the SBMA that was lobbied for by Gordon and inserted as an amendment during the bicameral committee hearings. The same law also ordered the conversion of the Clark Air Base into a special economic zone.

Gordon, the first SBMA chairman, along with 8,000 volunteers, preserved and protected US$8 billion worth of property and facilities left during the pullout of the US military. They successfully converted the military base into the Philippines' first Freeport, attracting foreign investments and generating up to 80,000 jobs.

During its fourth anniversary in November 24, 1996, Subic Bay hosted the leaders of 18 economies during the 4th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Summit who were all impressed with the emerging investment haven with companies like FedEx Express, Enron, Coastal Petroleum, Taiwan computer giant Acer and France telecoms company Thomson SA.