EO reclassifies Clark IE5 as int’l center for commerce, leisure

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signs the Executive Order which prohibits illegal contractualization while delivering his speech during the 116th Labor Day Celebration at the IEC Convention Center in Cebu City on May 1, 2018. RICHARD MADELO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte has reclassified the Clark Industrial Estate 5 as an international center of commerce, industry, leisure, and recreation.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, by authority of the President, signed Executive Order 81 on June 4 this year and a copy of which was released to media on Monday (June 10).

“The IE5 area, measuring approximately 290 hectares, is hereby reclassified as an international center for commerce, aviation, logistics, industry, leisure, and recreation,” the EO read.

Previously, the Clark IE5 was only declared “as a logistics center and mandated among others, that the Clark International Airport Corporation should only engage in aviation, aviation-related services, and aviation logistics activities.”

However, the EO noted that “the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) and the Clark Freeport Zone (CFZ), including the IE5 has attracted international attention and interest as Asia-Pacific Region’s emerging premier hub for aviation and international logistics as well as an international center for commerce, industry, leisure, and recreation.”

It further said that “the expansion of the permitted activities allowed in the IE5 and the reclassification thereof as an international center for commerce, industry, leisure, and recreation, is vital to the development of the entire Clark area.”

The order takes effect immediately.