SBF becomes center for business startups with launching of SBMA Business Acceleration Hub, Subic Bay Angel Investor Network

This premier Freeport has become a center for business startup activities with the launching of the SBMA Business Acceleration Hub and the Subic Bay Angel Investor Network at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center (SBECC) on October 20, 2025.

During the Dakal Lakad 2025 Demo and Graduation Day, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Senior Deputy Administrator for Business and Investment Renato Lee III said that launching the two programs establishes Subic Bay Freeport as a center for business startup activities to access investors and strategic partners while expanding innovations beyond the region.

“The project aims to stimulate growth of startups and support them through acceleration with incentives from the SBMA and a business location within the SBFZ. We are also celebrating the graduation of ten startups, coinciding with the launching of the Angel Investor Network,” Lee said.

The SBMA spearheaded the Angel Network Program in compliance with Republic Act No. 11337, or the Innovative Startup Act, which aims to strengthen the local startup ecosystem through a government-led program.

The act provides benefits and incentives for startups and startup enablers thru the Philippine Startup Development Program, managed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT).

“We’re also proud to share that SBMA has already incubated and produced a successful startup from having 2 Business Process Outsourcing or BPO/Accounting Agents to 300 agents today,” Lee said.

Meanwhile, ten of Central Luzon’s most promising startups took center stage at the Dakal Lakad 2025 Demo and Graduation Day. The event was co-organized by the SBMA, SULONG Central Luzon, and the Wadhwani Foundation.

The event marked the culmination of the five-month acceleration program designed to help startups transition from incubation to investment readiness.

The ten startups that graduated during the event include the Tambanokano Aqua Farm, Dayap Philippines, Project Nitriact, Wisdom | The IP Vault Co., Kilala PH, Kloudtech, Ordermo, Hive Energy PH, InnoVSmarter, and Expoxur.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Engr. Eduardo Jose L. Aliño expressed his gratitude to all partner government agencies and campuses for their keen interest to develop Subic Bay Freeport as a platform to incubate startups, adding that the SBMA will always provide the necessary guidance and support to ensure the growth of businesses in Subic Bay Freeport. 

Other attendees were DICT Region 3 Regional Director Engr. Antonio Edward E. Padre, DTI Region 3 Assistant Regional Director Richard V. Simangan, DOST Pampanga Provincial S&T Director Engr. Mary Michelle M. Quiambao, and Bulacan State University – Main Campus Chancellor Dr. Ruben E. Borja II. (MPD-SBMA)

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Second group of A4 workers get jabbed in Subic Freeport

Another Covid-19 vaccination program for workers was carried out here on Wednesday (Aug. 11), exactly two weeks after the launching of the government’s vaccination drive for frontline personnel in essential sectors or the A4 priority group in this Freeport. 

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the second privately-initiated workers’ vaccination program opened at the TeleEmpire Inc. office here to benefit the firm’s 280 employees.

The project was held in partnership with the Department of Health (DOH), which assisted in vaccne access, as well as in the Resbakuna center accreditation.

“I hope more companies in Subic would follow suit to have their employees vaccinated, so that we all can have peace of mind while going about our own businesses,” said Eisma, who continues to drumbeat the importance of having workers inoculated against the Covid-19 virus.

“Again, I urge Freeport workers to register for any vaccination program offered by their employers, or by their respective local government unit. It doesn’t really matter what brand of vaccine is available; what’s important is getting the dose that would keep you safe from the virus,” she added.

Eisma and Secretary Vince Dizon of the National Action Plan Against COVID-19, Health Undersecretary Roger Tong-an, and Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque launched the government’s vaccination drive for economic frontliners at the Nidec Subic Philippines Corp. here on July 27.

SBMA Deputy Administrator for Health and Safety Ronnie Yambao the vaccine rollout at TeleEmpire was administered by medical staff from the privately-owned ZMMG Coop Women’s and Children Hospital in Olongapo City, using Sinovac vaccine.

Charry Navarro, administrative officer of TeleEmpire, said the one-day vaccination schedule would provide the first dose of the vaccine to all the firm’s 280 workers.

Meanwhile, TeleEmpire president and CEO Johannes Lin lauded the SBMA for its efforts in enforcing health protocols in the Subic Bay Freeport and helping locators get vaccine allocations.

Lin also thanked the firm’s Filipino employees for their concern to fellow workers and for showing discipline during the pandemic.

“Everybody wants to be comfortable while working inside the office, that is why everybody is doing their share to keep themselves healthy and Covid-free,” he added.

Lin also said that TeleEmpire had prohibited employees from going around the Freeport, even in the malls, and had set up recreational facilities and a mini-store in the TeleEmpire complex to encourage workers to stay in their quarters when not in duty.

The firm provides facility management services and business process outsourcing services to Philippine overseas gaming operators located out of the Freeport.

Lin said the firm had planned to initiate vaccination of workers as early as April this year, but most of the employees worried about the effect of the vaccines after reading negative reactions from the social media.

“Proper information from medical experts and distributing reading materials about the Covid-19 vaccines convinced our workers to get vaccinated,” Lin happily said. (MPD-SBMA)

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SBMA sets more measures to curb BPO Covid-19 surge

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has required a business process outsourcing (BPO) firm here to implement additional safety measures like staggered shutdowns and work-from-home arrangements to prevent further transmission of Covid-19 at its offices here.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the measures were deemed necessary after it was learned that 26 employees of Buwelo BPO Solutions, which operates a call center here, had tested positive for Covid-19 infection.

Contact tracing had earlier identified 65 employees of the company who were suspected to have been exposed to positive Covid-19 cases. Their RT-PCR tests had so far turned out 37 negative results and 26 positives as of Dec. 4. Two test results are yet to be released by the Philippine Red Cross.

“We are now working with the Buwelo BPO management to avert further virus transmission and to enhance health safety in the workplace. We asked them to implement partial shutdowns and alternative work schedules and it’s good that the company management was receptive,” Eisma said.

“At our end, we shall be monitoring the implementation of the agreed-upon health protocols and we shall be firm that these measures be carried out because workers’ welfare is paramount,” she added.

Eisma said that during discussions last Thursday, company officials agreed to implement staggered shutdowns at the company facilities, at one floor at a time starting Dec. 4, in the three-story building the firm occupies at the Subic Gateway Park here.

The company also agreed to allow 180 employees to work from home to allow better physical distancing at the offices. The firm employs a total of 729 who work in three shifts.

Eisma added that the company has previously requested for an expansion area and that the SBMA might allow the use of an adjacent building for this purpose.

Aside from these commitments, Eisma said the Buwelo management will immediately proceed with more disinfection at the company premises using ozone generators.

With this development, Eisma also warned workers and other stakeholders in the Subic Bay Freeport to report suspected cases of Covid-19, as required by the inter-Agency Task Force on Eme4rging Contagious Diseases (IATF).

The SBMA health officials said earlier that contact tracing showed the workers who tested positive either attended parties held outside of the Freeport, or were exposed to co-workers who went to the said social gatherings.

Dr. Solomon Jacalne, head of the SBMA Health and Safety Department, also noted that the surge of Covid-19 cases at Buwelo BPO was the result of “unsafe behavior” by some employees who did not honestly declare their health condition.

Jacalne said that some employees still reported for work when they were already exhibiting mild Covid-19 symptoms.  He also noted that contact tracers only learned of the beach and pool parties, which were suspected to have been the source transmission for the original positive clusters, after 16 of the employees have already tested positive.

Eisma had earlier urged companies in the Subic Freeport to forego the traditional company Christmas party this year to avoid the risk of virus transmission.  She pointed out that even the SBMA has cancelled its traditional Christmas party for this reason.  (MPD/SBMA)

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Covid-19 surge in Subic firm traced to parties

While social interaction remains important even during the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s still no time to party especially when minimum health requirements like wearing face mask and keeping physical distancing cannot be observed.

This was the lesson some employees of a business process outsourcing (BPO) company here recently learned the hard way after attending parties that might have served as super-spreading events, said Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma.

“As of latest count, 25 employees have tested positive for Covid-19 infection out of 65 workers who had to be placed on quarantine,” Eisma announced on Wednesday.

“Our health experts here have determined that were it not for parties that workers attended, all these hassles of quarantine and work stoppage would not have happened,” she added.

Dr. Solomon Jacalne, who heads the SBMA Public Health & Safety Department, said the surge in Covid-19 cases at the company was traced to two parties that employees attended last Nov. 14, a Saturday. The first was a beach party at Baloy, a popular beach area in Olongapo City, and the second was a pool party held in San Marcelino, Zambales.

Jacalne said contact tracing indicated that the employees who tested positive of Covid-19 either attended the parties or were exposed to co-workers who went to the said social gatherings.

But the doctor added that it was the unsafe behavior of employees that allowed further spread of the virus. “Some were not honest with their health declaration,” he noted. “They didn’t say they were sick and they reported for work just the same because of the company’s no-work-no-pay policy.”

Jacalne said the first case was recorded on Nov. 6, but the patient’s two identified close contacts had tested negative.  The next two positive cases were known on Nov. 17—a couple who declared as close contacts only those with whom they shared the shuttle bus.

“Then there came to be a sudden spike in the following days, from Nov. 19 to 25. And this was the only time when the employees admitted about the beach and pool parties—when there were already 16 positive cases,” Jacalne said.

After the parties were revealed, further investigation by tracers widened the circle of close contacts to a total of 65—all employees of the BPO firm. Out of these, 25 so far have tested positive of the virus.

Jacalne added that no other positive case was recorded at the firm in the last seven days and that all the suspect cases are now under quarantine in their respective areas in Zambales, Olongapo City and Bataan and awaiting schedule for RT-PCR test.

Following this development, Chairman Eisma ordered further investigation to determine additional safety measures to be imposed at the workplace.

Company officials said they have already installed barriers between work stations as early as August and have now positioned their call agents one workstation apart.

It was also learned that with 500 call center agents in its employ, the company intends to expand into a bigger area to comply with Joint Memorandum Circular No. 20-04-A, which provided for supplemental guidelines from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on workplace prevention and control of Covid-19.

Eisma said the SBMA will look into the possibility of leasing out a portion of a nearby building for the expansion area needed by the firm.

Eisma also urged companies in the Subic Freeport to forego the traditional company Christmas party this year to avoid the risk of virus transmission. "Let us stay safe. We can make Christmas more meaningful, more special and more rewarding by celebrating it with our family and household members this year," Eisma added. (MPD/SBMA)

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SBMA sees 15% revenue increase from Subic ICT sector

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is projecting a 15 percent increase this year in revenue generation from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector in this free port after posting an average monthly income of P6 million in the past five months.

SBMA Administrator and CEO Wilma T. Eisma said the agency’s Business and Investment Department for ICT has made the forecast after a consistent growth that has eclipsed 2017 revenue targets.

She said that with an average monthly collection of P6 million, the agency’s BID-ICT is expecting to generate around P76.4 million at the end of the year. “This would be 15.64 percent higher than the revenue we posted for ICT in 2016,” Eisma said.

The BID-ICT, which handles locators engaged in business process outsourcing (BPO), business process management (BPM), and other related industries, has collected a total of P68,314,258 in revenue for 2016, said Cleofe Espineli, who heads the department.
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At last count, there are 95 locators engaged in ICT inside the Subic Freeport, said Espineli. These are infusing more than P32.17 billion worth of investments and employing nearly 2,000 Filipinos.

Espineli added that as of May this year, BID-ICT has already recorded a total revenue of P29,902,215, which is 35.15 percent higher than its 2017 revenue target.

She also said that BID-ICT is currently processing the expansions of some existing locators that will result in additional committed investments of P273 million and additional 608 personnel.

When completed, the expansion projects will generate additional revenue of P15.1 million for the SBMA.

“With my team’s commitment, determination and malasakit for SBMA, we will deliver the best that we can. We wanted to be part of the SBMA team that keeps winning,” Espineli also said.

Earlier, SBMA Administrator Wilma Eisma reported that in terms of over-all financial performance, SBMA posted P1.25 billion in revenue for January to May of 2017, which is 7.7 percent higher than the P1.16 billion in the same period last year.

“But the most interesting fact here is that the SBMA has already posted a net income P240.21 million from January to May this year, or 126 percent higher than the P106 million that was posted last year in the same period,” Eisma noted.

“Even if there are clouds over our heads that trouble our beloved agency, let us continue to perform with excellence and malasakit so that we will continue to contribute bigger shares to the government than ever before,” Eisma also said. (RAV/MPD-SBMA)

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Firm turning abandoned Subic hotel-casino into BPO, support center for online gaming

After a decade of neglect, the former Legenda Hotel and Casino here is now being transformed by an online-gaming company into an offshore support facility.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman Roberto Garcia said the once-popular Subic attraction for high-rollers has been taken over by Tele Empire, a company that will engage in business-process outsourcing (BPO) and support services for online gaming.

The Legenda Hotel and Casino in Subic Bay in its glory days

The new operator will pay rent for the whole property at an appraised value of P3.6 million a month, Garcia said.

“We got a very good deal here because for a long time, the Legenda Hotel has been a huge eyesore right in the middle of Subic’s business district,” Garcia said in a recent media briefing.

“Now we’re getting rid of this eyesore and getting good money for it, at the same time,” he said.

The former haven for high-rollers sits on one whole block of prime land along the Waterfront Road, right next to Building 229, which houses the main offices of the SBMA.

The Malaysian-owned Legend International Resorts Ltd. Co. (LIRL) started operating the casino-hotel in 1993 with a $130-million investment.

However, the state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) padlocked the Legenda casino in May 2006 for nonpayment of arrears amounting to P365 million.

The LIRL claimed its casino has been operating at a net loss, but Pagcor said its special audit team discovered Legenda was charging expenses in its non-casino operations to its casino operation.

The SBMA has worked on a debt-restructuring scheme with the LIRL management, but the firm did not comply with it, thus, ending up with unpaid obligations to the SBMA amounting to P850 million, records indicated.

After the last employees left in 2009, the hotel building was left to the elements. Last year its derelict façade became the backdrop of a Halloween costume-show organized by SBMA employees.

As of now, the new operator has stripped the facility bare of the furniture and fixtures that remained in the abandoned building.

“It’s already being repaired,” Garcia said.

The SBMA official said while the new operator will provide support services for online gaming, no actual gambling will be done at the Subic premises.

“I will not allow it,” Garcia said. (Henry Empeño, BusinessMirror)

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/firm-turning-abandoned-subic-hotel-casino-into-bpo-support-center-for-online-gaming/

Looking back: Legend Resorts

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Computer app helps Subic students learn BPO English

Students from various colleges in Subic Bay Freeport area are now benefitting from LEAP, a computer application software designed to address the English proficiency of Filipinos to meet the demand of the growing business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the country.

LEAP, which stands for Learning English Application for Pinoys, was introduced here last September by the University of the Philippines (UP) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to several local colleges and had since earned raves from student-beneficiaries.

Royce Vincent Palo, a Customs Administrations major at the Lyceum of Subic Bay (LSB) said that he is very grateful to become one of the first LEAP trainees.

“It’s a great program wherein fun and learning, which normally don't come together, have been successfully combined,” noted Palo.

“The program encourages us to recall our past lessons, many of which have long been forgotten, and while it still has some glitches, it was very effective,” he added.

Jenny Ching, another LSB student tutored under the program, also praised the LEAP project, describing it as “very helpful for Filipinos who cannot speak English well, especially for those preparing for job interviews.”

The LEAP program is stand-alone computer application software, which gives tests and lessons to students to improve their communication skills. This includes grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation, which are considered as major deficiencies for most Filipinos.

The program is composed of English training modules that run for a total of 200 hours. Participants here took lessons every Saturday and completed the course last December 13.

LEAP was developed by the UP Diliman’s Engineering Department, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Department of Arts and Letters, and the Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts. The program was funded by the DOST and was launched in July 2014.

Last September, UP and DOST introduced LEAP to students at the Lyceum of Subic Bay, Columban College, Mondriaan Aura College, Subic Bay College, and Gordon College.

Students who joined the program took pre-tests to assess their basic English skills before using the application under the supervision of UP representatives.

Last Monday, UP and DOST officials returned to conduct a post-program assessment to gauge the effectiveness of the program, as well as to listen to the evaluation by the program participants.

Data from the participants, including comments on perceived flaws in the computer application, will be used for further development of the application software, UP officials said.

The program organizers also expressed gratitude to the students who participated in the program, particularly for their comments and suggestions to help improve the LEAP software.

Meanwhile, SBMA Labor Department head Severo Pastor, who attended the program assessment with SBMA Deputy Administrator for Legal Affairs Randy Escolango, thanked UP and DOST for bringing the LEAP program to Subic, pointing out that it would also benefit Subic’s growing BPO industry.

Pastor said that SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia has been eyeing to develop Subic Bay Freeport as a BPO center to cash in on the growing proficiency of local information technology workers.

Pastor said the LEAP program would help students and workers in the IT sector here to further enhance their capabilities and market their skills. (YCM/MPD-SBMA)

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Subic Freeport firms, schools form ICT council

Companies, schools and government agencies involved in information and communications technology (ICT) at the Subic Bay Freeport have formed a multi-sectoral organization to maximize industry prospects and boost the potentials of this free port as a world-class ICT hub.

In a meeting organized by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) recently, the Subic Bay Freeport Zone ICT Advisory Council was formed with Atty. Severo Pastor Jr., manager of the SBMA Labor Department, elected as president.

Among the attendees to the organizational meeting were senior officers and delegates from various schools and ICT-related companies in Olongapo City and the provinces of Zambales and Bataan, network providers, representatives from the media and the academe, and government agencies like the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

“The Subic Bay Freeport Zone ICT Advisory Council has renewed enthusiasm in establishing a stronger network with more direct linkages to build a better partnership towards a more focused ICT industry,” Pastor said.

He admitted that a number of investors engaged in business process outsourcing (BPO) that found it hard to recruit qualified staff in the Subic Bay area eventually closed shop.

However, BPO investors should not be discouraged by this and instead train their own workers to reach the desired level of excellence, he added.

“At the Hanjin shipyard, local workers used to work only with acetylene or stick welding machines. However, after providing training in various types of arc welding, Hanjin has become successful with plenty of locally hired welders,” Pastor pointed out.

Meanwhile, in a message read by SBMA Senior Deputy Administrator Joy Alvarado, SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia said that in a short period of time, the Philippines has become one of the top outsourcing destinations in the world.

“We in Subic should take a chunk of that opportunity,” Garcia added.

SBMA Director Benjamin Antonio III, who was chosen as adviser for the ICT Council, noted that Subic is very much ready to become an ICT hub but that only business locators are lacking.

“Magkaroon lang ng kahit isa pang (BPO) player sa Subic, makikita nila ang kakaibang opportunity ng BPO sa Subic Freeport,” Antonio said.

He also pointed out the facilities that are already in place in Subic to provide the needs of the BPO locators, including those of PLDT SubicTel, fiber optic cable system for reliable linkages, dependable security system, related infrastructure, power supply and access linkages to other economic zones and Metro Manila.

“We are in a unique position to attract locators. That is why we need to be more aggressive and focus on creating job opportunities, focus on creating a more resilient SBFZ, and promote a positive image of Subic Bay,” Antonio also said.

In the same forum, Director Benhur Baniqued of the TESDA Zambales provincial office recommended aligning and adjusting the educational curriculum of the country towards defining the requirements of the BPOs.

Baniqued said that the government should encourage educational institutions to improve and support the ICT industry, while urging the experts to share their knowledge and equipment that are lacking in most of the schools in the locality. (RAV/MPD-SBMA)

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More office, residential dev’t seen in Clark, Subic

MANILA - Development of more office spaces and residential properties are seen in Clark and Subic with the upcoming investments and expansion of manufacturing and business process outsourcing (BPO) firms in these areas which in turn would drive higher demand, property consultancy firm CBRE Philippines said.

CBRE Philippines said that due to infrastructure developments, businesses have started to expand from Metro Manila to peripheries, making Central Luzon a major investment destination.

With increased economic activity seen in the areas of Clark in Pampanga and Subic in Zambales, in particular, more office spaces and residential properties are also expected to be developed there.

The firm noted that new areas of investments for the manufacturing sector have been opened in the two areas due to the tensions between Japan, Taiwan and China amid territorial disputes, as well as the continuous development of infrastructure between the freeport zones there.

It said renewed growth in the manufacturing industry was seen with foreign firms choosing to locate in the Clark and Subic Freeport zones.

Apart from manufacturing, growth in the BPO industry in the two areas has also been observed.

With the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) removing the fiscal incentives for new developers of information technology (IT) parks in Metro Manila and in Cebu, CBRE Philippines said Metro Clark remains an attractive area for new IT facilities.

“The PEZA resolution has emphasized Metro Clark as a high potential investment destination,” it said.

As new locators and existing BPO firms expand in these areas, more developments are likewise expected.

“With the entrance of new locators and expansion of previous tenants in the BPO industry, the real estate office segment is seen to expand in the coming years,” CBRE Philippines said.

As more investments are made in these areas, expatriates would also demand for quality residential developments.

“Residential demand is seen to grow with the upcoming investments and expansion,” it said.

“Vertical residential developments are now seen rising in the area as developers try to maximize their investment on land,” it said further. (Louella D. Desiderio, Philippine Star)

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