Peza bullish on 30 new ecozones this year
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) remains on track to declare 30 new ecozones within the year, according to its top official.
“We’re awaiting 14 more proclamations to be happening hopefully within the year,” Peza Director General Tereso Panga said in an interview with reporters.
The Palawan Mega Ecozone (PMEZ), however, is excluded from Peza’s indicative ecozone proclamation target.
Panga said the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has turned over 4,000 hectares (ha) out of the 28,000-ha property for the PMEZ. Groundbreaking is expected next month.
The Palawan Mega Ecozone covers 28,000 ha in BuCor’s Iwahig Penal Colony near Puerto Princesa City. It will be turned into a job creating, eco-friendly industrial estates.
“The Palawan Mega Ecozone is envisioned to attract environmentally responsible industries such as agro-industrial processing, renewable energy, ecotourism and marine biotechnology,” Panga previously said.
“This will not only preserve Palawan’s rich biodiversity but will also uplift the livelihood of local communities through jobs and infrastructure development,” he added.
In addition, Peza said it granted pre-qualification status for developing a 4,000-ha property in Barangays Montible and Sta. Lucia, also in Puerto Princesa City.
Peza earlier said the PMEZ is expected to revive economic activity under the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area.
The agency also said the mega ecozone development was expected to generate more than 480,000 direct jobs.
“PMEZ is an immediate response to the instructions of the President on promoting stronger trade ties among ASEAN member states in view of the US tariffs,” it added.
In the first half of 2025, President Marcos approved four ecozones—two expansions of a manufacturing zone in Batangas and two new information technology (IT) parks in Tagbilaran City and Bacolod City.
These include the expansion of the Aboitiz Group’s Lima Technology Center in Batangas, Megaworld Corp.’s Upper East IT Park in Bacolod City and the Tagbilaran Uptown IT Hub 2 in Bohol.
The Marcos administration has proclaimed a total of 32 ecozones with committed investments amounting to P13.41 billion.
