MANILA — Once branded a “ghost town,” the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO) is undergoing a strategic revival, with nearly ₱800 million worth of unfinished infrastructure projects now either completed or nearing full rehabilitation.
Atty. Gil Taway IV, APECO President and CEO, revealed the updates in an exclusive interview with Michelle Ong on Market Edge, saying the agency is “done complaining” and is now focused on proving its worth.
“When I assumed office in 2023, APECO was a ghost town. Our administration building was leased to a POGO operator and our employees were crammed in container vans,” said Taway.
According to Taway, out of the 10 previously stalled government-funded projects, four have been inaugurated, another four are nearly complete, and the remaining two are being re-scoped after funding shortfalls. “We had to beg the POGO to vacate, on bended knees,” he added.
Among the key projects are new APECO villas, a 20-room residence for tourists, and a planned convention center—a move that supports the agency’s push for MICE tourism (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions).
Under the Bagong APECO initiative, the zone is being repositioned as a hub for defense, energy, and fisheries, while maintaining Aurora’s identity as a tourism destination.
“We want APECO to become the fishing capital of the Pacific, and the Philippines’ first defense industry hub,” said Taway.
He disclosed that APECO is already in advanced talks with a major defense manufacturer, a firm that currently operates in Subic, to expand into Aurora. The zone is also being pitched as a refueling, resupply, and maintenance center for allied military forces operating in the Pacific.
“We’re protected geographically—bounded by the Sierra Madre and the San Ildefonso Peninsula. Even during Typhoon Pepito in 2020, APECO barely felt its impact,” he said, countering concerns over natural disaster risks.
₱262-M BUDGET THIS YEAR, BUT STILL FAR FROM FULL POTENTIAL
Taway acknowledged that while APECO’s budget has grown to ₱262 million in 2024, up from ₱47 million in previous years, it is still a far cry from the ₱10-billion seed capitalization mandated by Republic Act No. 9490 (the law that created APECO).
Only ₱1.4 billion has been released since 2007, leaving ₱8.6 billion still unreleased from the national government.
Despite that, Taway is pushing forward with what he called “low-hanging fruits.” He hopes to make APECO revenue-generating within the next five years, citing financial projections that show the APECO villas and tourism projects could cover the agency’s personnel services cost of ₱57 million annually, assuming full occupancy.
“We’re not complaining. We’re showing government that we deserve the trust again,” he said.
REGIONAL ALLIANCES AND POLTICAL SUPPORT
Taway said APECO is also initiating partnerships with other ecozones, including Clark and Subic, inspired by the Malaysia-Singapore joint economic corridor.
“We’re not competing. We’re offering APECO as a complementary expansion site,” he said. With President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. having vowed to revive APECO in his 2023 visit to Aurora, Taway is hopeful that their progress will merit a mention in the next State of the Nation Address. “We wrote to the Office of the President and submitted our report, showing that we removed POGOs and nearly completed the ₱800-M backlog—all in under a year.”
The original news article was first featured in ABS-CBN News by Raine Musñgi. To view the article, click here.
