CLARK FREEPORT—The Clark Development Corp. (CDC) will remain committed to fulfill its responsibility and mandate to administer, manage and develop the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ), or what is also known as the subzone.
This was the statement issued by the CDC on Tuesday as it waits for the resolution of the leadership issue of the Ayta tribes in their ancestral domain in the CSEZ by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
The CDC said it issued the statement after a group calling itself the Sangguniang Tribung Ayta called for the CDC to leave the area covered by the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title 025-A (CADT 025-A) which is well within the CSEZ.
The CDC said its role as the administrator and implementing arm for CSEZ is well documented. Republic Act 7227, or the Bases Conversion and Development Act, provided that “the President is hereby authorized to create…a Special Economic Zone covering the lands occupied by the Clark military reservations…located within the territorial jurisdiction of Angeles City, Municipalities of Mabalacat and Porac, Province of Pampanga; and the Municipality of Capas, Province of Tarlac…”
Subsequently, Executive Order (EO) 80 provided for the “Creation of the Clark Development Corp.”, authorized as the operating and implementing arm of the BCDA to manage the CSEZ. EO 80 further stated that “the CDC shall have the specific powers of the Export Processing Zone Authority as provided for in Section 4 of Presidential Decree 66 [1972] as amended.”
Based on the foregoing, the CDC said it is the governing authority over the area known as the Clark Freeport Zone (also known as Main Zone) and CSEZ, and has jurisdiction over the ancestral domain covered by CADT 025-A.
The issuance of CADT 025-A did not diminish the CDC’s function as administrator by virtue of the December 6, 2007 Joint Management Agreement (JMA) among CDC, NCIP and Tribung Ayta, “which is morally and legally effective and binding,” the CDC statement said.
The annotation in the “Memorandum of Encumbrances” of CADT 025-A clearly and explicitly states that CDC is allowed to develop the area.
The CDC also believes the JMA may not be unilaterally canceled because there is no provision to that effect in the agreement, the statement added.