Avoid disaster, spread development

The building up areas in the greater Central Luzon region to decongest Metro Manila and reduce the impact of disasters in the metropolis was reiterated by Senator Richard J. Gordon(Ind).

To pave the way for the development of Central Luzon , Gordon authored Senate Bill 143 or the Luzon Global Corridor Act which aims to strengthen and expand the powers of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and the Clark Development Corporation (CDC).

Expanding the powers of SBMA and CDC will allow them to develop other special economic zones in Luzon to optimize the utilization of the three airports in Subic, Clark and Manila ; two seaports in Subic and Manila and one connecting highway, the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).

"Metro Manila is overcrowded. The real disaster is the human disaster, because we do not know how to cope with the cycles of nature anymore. This will become even worse when the impact of climate change becomes stronger in the coming years," Gordon emphasized.

"One key part on solving this problem is to spread opportunities outside of Metro Manila to decongest the city while solving poverty in the provinces. When a person is able to stand on his or her own two feet, with an education and a job, then he or she will be empowered to deal with the crises of life. That's real development, that's real disaster prevention," he added.

In filing the measure, Gordon has taken the first step in making his vision of making Luzon an industrial and education hub through the optimum utilization of the infrastructures in the area.

"We need to put our development planning together with the engineering. Taxpayer's money will be better used if we develop these areas strategically and responsibly," he said.

The senator pointed out that giving incentives for leading universities and strategic industries like shipbuilding and prefab housing construction to move and set up operations there will generate more jobs, and will in turn bring in more investment from all the other supporting industries that will follow them there.

"More importantly, this will allow us to really plan the development of the area, by creating and enforcing proper zoning, requiring proper environmental standards, and building new cities with more foresight and planning," he stressed.