30 Subic companies honored at the Mabuhay Business Awards

30 freeport locators were recognized during the annual Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Mabuhay Business Awards 2024 held at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center (SBECC) on December 13, 2024.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose L. Aliño explained that the 30 awardees were recognized, out of the 1,909 locators, for their exceptional contribution to the business growth of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone this year. 

Aliño added that the SBMA Mabuhay Awards embodies the agency’s commitment to recognizing the outstanding contributions of these locators who have significantly impacted the domestic economy; hence, “Mabuhay.” It symbolizes life, enthusiasm, and positivity.

Senior Deputy Administrator for Business and Investment Renato W. Lee III said that these 1,909 companies not only contributed to the business growth of the Subic Bay Freeport but also provided employment to 162,891 workers.

“Aggregate investments amounting to P577.99 billion as of the third quarter of 2024 accrued to the SBMA and the Total Operating Revenue generated from 1992-2023 has amounted to P64.36 billion. In the first half of 2024, the SBMA released a total of P204.7 million Net Revenue Shares, higher than last year’s same period,” he said.

“This is why the SBMA holds the Mabuhay Business Awards, to recognize our top performing locators. 

This year, after a rigorous deliberation, the SBMA has determined the 30 top performing Subic Bay Freeport locators,” he said.

For the Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) of the Year Award, the awardees were the MJY 88 Medical Clinic, La Banca Travel and Tours Corp., and the Grand Food Venue Corp. that owns Xtremely Xpresso, Subic Ben’s Kitchen and Iron Grill Asian Fusion.

For the New Business of the Year, the recipients were Skarya Builders Inc., Maritime Expert General Services Corporation, Bistro Italiano Corp., Good Manufacturing Leathers Inc., Intelligent Outsourcing Inc., MSK Group Work Incorporated, Strategic Channel for Career Development Corporation, Swire Agrotech Agricultural Products Inc., Pure Petroleum Corporation, Sands of Triboa Resorts and Spa Inc., Subic Bay Yacht Club., Norden Subic Entrepreneurs Inc., and Grainpro Philippines Inc.

For the Top Importer of the Year, the award was given to Raizen Asia PTE. LTD., while the Top Exporter of the Year went to the Sanyo Denki Philippines Inc.

For the Eco-Innovation Award, the SBMA hailed the Subic Smart Community Corporation.

Subic Bay Town Center, Inc. bagged the Health and Wellness Business of the Year award. 

The SBMA hailed the Philippine Coastal Storage and Pipeline Corporation for the Corporate Social Responsibility Award. 

For Business Developer of the Year, the awardees were Aolly Home Inc. and  Sachi Subic Inc.

The accolades for the Loyalty Business Award were given to Idess Interactive Technologies Inc., Subic Bay Multi-Purpose Cooperative, MOF Company Subic Inc., Royal Duty-Free Shops Inc., and Mikuni Terminals Mechatronics Philippines Corporation. 

The top performer for Excellence in Occupational Health and Safety Practices was Tong Lung Philippines Metal Industry Co. Inc.

Meanwhile, a Special Award was given to the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce Inc. 

Lee said, “Our awardees do not only have remarkable profiles in terms of their economic growth contributions but they also have shown exemplary and notable accomplishments in delivering quality service, and have gone the extra mile to contribute to the sustainable development of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and its neighboring communities.”

He added, “As the SBMA continues to thrive in our mission to maintain investor confidence and to empower our people and communities through shared stewardship and good governance, the agency will not falter in acknowledging our locators’ contributions and accomplishments. And this is one of our ways to show you how important you are to us, the Mabuhay Awards.” (MPD-SBMA) 

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DTI, SBMA launch ‘Balik Eskwela Diskwento’ caravan

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in partnership with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), launched on Thursday the Balik Eskwela Diskwento caravan, the first since the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) hit the country two years ago.

DTI officer-in-charge provincial director Enrique Tacbad said the caravan is being held annually before the opening of classes to give students and parents, especially the low-income earners, the opportunity to buy school supplies and uniforms at discounted prices.

 

“This is the first physical Diskwento caravan we (have) held in Subic Freeport since 2019 because of the pandemic. Conducting Diskwento caravans is a challenging role for DTI during the pandemic,” Tacbad said in an interview.

He said the agency had used different strategies to keep on providing discounted goods to areas affected by calamities, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic while assuring the safety of the staff and personnel.

 

Balik-Eskwela Diskwento caravan program is tying up with local small and medium entrepreneurs or suppliers to promote and sell their products at discounted prices normally ranging from 10 percent to 50 percent of the regular prices in the market.

 

Tacbad said with the return of the physical Diskwento caravan, they are expecting to surpass the PHP1.195 million earnings generated during the 2021 caravan in various locations in Zambales.

 

There are 40 SME exhibitors-sellers from Central Luzon and Marikina City that participated in the caravan, selling school supplies, food products and handicrafts.

 

The caravan is being held at the parking lot of Ayala Harbor Point here.

 

Meanwhile, SBMA Deputy Administrator Ruel John Cabigting welcomed the Diskwento caravan in Subic and became part of the project to help the residents to afford school supplies and other commodities.

 

“It is an honor to become a partner with DTI,” said Cabigting, adding that SBMA is fully supporting the small and medium enterprises as this helps provide jobs and income for the residents and the community.

 

The Diskwento caravan in Subic Freeport will run until May 20. (Ruben Veloria, PNA)

Source: https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1174756

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Loan facilities now open to MSMEs in Subic Bay Freeport

A financial assistance program is now available here for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that are accredited to deliver goods and services in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma Eisma said the SBMA has partnered with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) to provide loan facilities to MSMEs and other logistics-focused companies as part of the agency’s port marketing initiative.

The SBMA had initiated talks with the LBP as early as February last year to push for the loan facility under the agency’s program to assist MSMEs operating in the Freeport, she said.

According to Land Bank Subic Bay Branch Manager Edwin Manalo, interested MSMEs can avail of the loan facility through the Zambales Lending Center, a unit of the Land Bank that was formerly located in Dinalupihan, Bataan.

“As the number one government financial institution, Land Bank is always here to help the community on their financial needs. With the transfer of our Lending Center to Subic, we will be in a better position to help the public, especially MSMEs needing financial assistance,” he added.

Land Bank is a universal bank owned by the Philippine government with a special focus on serving the needs of farmers and fishermen and keeping them financially viable to help promote countryside development.

Zambales Lending Center Manager Ma. Marita San Diego said that this partnership with the SBMA is especially intended for corporations, private enterprises, cooperatives, as well as non-SBFZ companies that are accredited to deliver goods and services in the Freeport.

She said that processing time for MSME loan would take around 45 days, after the applicant submitted a complete set of the requirements.

San Diego added that her office has already received several some applications after the center relocated from Bataan to Subic Bay.

One of the applicants, she said, is a transport cooperative that proposes to field electric buses at Subic’s CBD area to provide a cheaper alternative to the riding public.

The proponent reportedly plans to put up initially a fleet of 10 electric buses, with designated stops and charging stations. (RFD/MPD-SBMA)

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Traders share best practices with entrepreneurs in Subic Freeport forum

“Don’t prove me wrong, prove me right! Can you deliver?” This was the challenge sounded by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Assistant Secretary Blesila Lantayona at the opening here on Wednesday of the agency’s “Kapatid, Mentor Me Program” session some 200 local entrepreneurs.

The program, held at the Subic Bay Travelers Hotel, tapped speakers from among some of the highly successful entrepreneurs in the country today and aimed to help micro and medium enterprises grow and attain sustainability.

According to Lantayona, from 70 to 80 percent of small to medium businesses have a short life span due to insufficient knowledge among owners on how to manage the business. The mentoring project, she added, seeks to help small and medium enterprises in Zambales and Olongapo City penetrate markets more stably and consistently.

During the forum, Paul Anthony de Guzman from the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurs and CEO of Go Negosyo, reminded participants that all entrepreneurs, big and small, should live by the vision of “Kapatid, angat lahat!”

He stressed that all entrepreneurs must lift and encourage one another, allowing small companies to benefit from and with their bigger counterparts.

Tokyo Tempura CEO Jorge Noel Y. Wieneke III, meanwhile, shared the origins of his entrepreneurial mindset and impressed upon the audience the need for an attitude of gratitude, all the while introducing his listeners to the “power” within them.

Wieneke said his business-centric mentality that originated from his infatuation with a childhood toy, which caused him to inadvertently find ways to make money through odd jobs. The same determination, risk-taking, passion and outgoingness carried into his adulthood and birthed his business, Potato Corner, which he had built with close friends and family.

The businessman would later on receive an award for sharing his insights on how to attain success.

Meanwhile, Business Mentors Inc. president Wilfredo Victor Arcilla contended that while overseas Filipino workers are recognized for their contribution to the Philippine economy through remittances, entrepreneurs play a bigger role in nation-building.

“The money OFWs collectively generated, if these were divided among the individuals OFWS, would still be a paltry amount. The OFWs weren’t going to change the Philippines; only enterprises will,” he concluded.

Asec Lantayona also urged the entrepreneurs of small and medium businesses and enterprises not to underestimate themselves, pointing out that their businesses “provide a whopping 62 percent of the jobs in the Philippines.”

She also cited the success of their mentees from Tacloban who had collectively generated P14 million after only five months of using a business model formulated under the DTI’s Mentor Me Program.

Lantayona said the DTI plans to extend the program into more easily accessible territory with web seminars, or webinars.

The mentoring session carried well into the afternoon with Arcilla lecturing on current marketing trends, followed by inspirational success stories from local entrepreneurs led by James Lee, chairman of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Council of Olongapo. (MPD-SBMA)

PHOTOS:

[1] Tokyo Tempura CEO Jorge Noel Y. Wieneke III shares his passion for business with entrepreneurs during a session of the DTI’s Mentor Me Program in the Subic Bay Freeport.

[2] (DTI) Assistant Secretary Blesila A. Lantayona (3rd from right) urges entrepreneurs to aim for sustainable business by learning about best practices from successful businessmen.

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SBMA reveals 10-point Agenda for the next six years

The new management team of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) revealed its 10-Point Agenda which defines the direction of the agency in the next six years.

“The Ten-Point Agenda is a set of priorities we would like to achieve. It is a direction that would guide us where we want to go and that is revitalizing the Subic Freeport,” SBMA Administrator Atty.Wilma Amy T. Eisma said.

The Agenda she said focuses on Locator Service Excellence, the Green Initiative, Safety and Security, Build, Build, Build, Subic Freeport as the Gateway, Community Engagement, Policy Reforms and Good Governance Program, FDIs and MSMEs, the Freeport Expansion, and Tourism Star.

Under the Locator Service Excellence, the SBMA will create a Non-Stop Shop which is a 24/7 on-line customer service and virtual complaint desk, and One-Stop Shop that would receive suggestions and complaints of the visiting public to Subic Bay thru Dial 888 Hotline or personal appearance.

Along with this, the SBMA is institutionalizing the Red Carpet Treatment to all locators and investors by implementing the Cut the Red Tape Project which will shorten to three days the releasing of certificates of registration and tax exemptions (CR/CRTE), building permit, Environmental Compliance Certificate, among others.

For the Green Initiative, this Administration will commence its improved climate change adaptation program thru broader coastal clean-up drives and tree planting activities and the use of renewable energy to mitigate any negative effect of the agency’s operations on the environment and, possibly, to secure ISO 14000 Certificate compliance before the end of the year.

SBMA will institutionalize safety programs across the Freeport by improving its safety and security capabilities in land, sea and forest with the acquisition of new equipment such as speed boats, motorcycles, patrol cars, as well as the prohibition of walk-in vendors and mendicants. These also include the establishment of security protocols, like using the SBMA website and the radio station, and the intensified campaign to make the Freeport drug-free area.

“The Agenda focuses on SBMA’s investment campaign to meet our vision of becoming a highly-urbanized Freeport in the near future. We must immediately start building and improving our facilities,” Eisma said.

The Administrator also said that under the national government’s “Build, Build, Build” program, agency’s engineering department will be able to finalize the feasibility study on Subic’s port development plan, Tipo Road expansion, bulk terminal expansion for PPP, improvement of access roads to Morong and surrounding municipalities, and the construction of SBMA’s corporate center that will house all of the agency’s offices and departments.

Meanwhile, Subic Freeport will be promoted as the Gateway to Southeast Asia and the world by intensifying marketing campaigns for its airport and seaport with the former reviving domestic and international flight operations, regaining status as an international airport and settling pending issues with CAAP; and the latter by introducing more competitive port-related tariffs and fees and promoting ship-to-ship business model to increase container traffic by at least five percent annually.
Complementing its infrastructure development programs, SBMA will step-up promotion the of high technology industries prioritizing research and development (R&D), creative, BPO and ICT while maintaining Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and USA as key sources of foreign direct investments (FDIs).

In the area of the Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the agency will push for the signing of an agreement with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to provide MSME-investors easy access to their respective investment–related programs. On top of this, SBMA will allocate a marketing budget to launch an aggressive marketing campaign to promote SBFZ, especially in the new frontiers like Russia and China.

Moreover, the SBMA will also drum beat its tourism industry thru Tourism Star programs by organizing an aggressive marketing campaign to promote Subic Bay as the next cruise ship playground, launching several landmark events such as hosting a one-week festival or conference featuring science and engineering design of modern world watercrafts to be dubbed Ultra High Speed Watercraft Festival, and Dragon Boat Festival, music fest, Christmas fest, grand Subic sale, and the like.

To address the shrinking available land for new investments, SBMA will identify areas for possible expansion outside the Freeport and sign a memorandum of understanding with local government units (LGU) as prescribed under the Presidential Proclamation 532 before a master plan will be developed.
For the Community Engagement, SBMA will develop capability building programs with indigenous peoples (IPs) and volunteers in the contiguous LGUs to increase competencies and generate more quality jobs; institutionalize an employment program for Subic Bay volunteers and an educational assistance plan in close coordination with TESDA and DOLE.

“The very important part of the Agenda is the policy reforms and good governance program the SBMA will be initiating that will guarantee the realization of all other initiatives in the agenda,” Eisma explained.

First under this agenda is the filing in Congress the amendment of RA 7227 which will seek to allocate for SBMA the use the one percent (1%) of the five percent (5%) gross income collected in the Subic Freeport; implementation of the moratorium on expansion of leased areas by locators engaged in trading of used trucks and construction equipment; expansion of the Integrity Pledge Program by including port users and other customers.

Also included are an intensified campaign against corruption, smuggling and illicit trade; improved incentive package of investors thru modernizing the Philippine Incentive Regime, and institutionalized programs under the “End Contractualization Initiative.” (RAV/MPD-SBMA)

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