PBBM names new SBMA head

NEW SBMA CHAIR. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. swears in businessman Eduardo Aliño on Friday as administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) in a ceremony at Malacañan Palace in Manila on Friday (Jan. 12, 2023). He replaced Jonathan Tan (not in photo) who also took his oath as undersecretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government on the same day. (PCO photo)

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has picked businessman Eduardo Aliño as the new chairperson and administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Malacañang announced Friday.

Aliño took oath before Marcos as the new SBMA head in a ceremony at the Malacañan Palace in Manila on Friday, Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said in a statement.

“President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sworn in businessman Eduardo Aliño on Friday as administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority,” Garafil said.

The SBMA serves as the government’s operating and implementing arm for the development of the Subic Bay Freeport into a self-sustaining tourism, industrial, commercial, financial, and investment center to generate employment opportunities.

Aliño replaced former SBMA administrator Jonathan Tan who will assume a new post at the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Garafil said Tan was also sworn in on Friday as DILG undersecretary.

Aliño is the chair of the Subic Bay Yacht Club, as well as president and chairperson of the S.T.A.R. Group of Companies.

He is also the president and chairperson of Subic Bay Freeport Grain Terminal Services, Inc. and Mega Equipment International Corp., among other posts.

Tan, on the other hand, served as mayor of Pandan, Antique from 2010 to 2019.

Tan is also a businessman who owns the JDT Construction and Supply and serves as president of JDT Trading.