Petition filed to declare Mindanao idle lands as ecozones
Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Charito Plaza raised a petition asking President Duterte to declare all public lands in Mindanao as economic zones to ensure progress and development in the country’s second largest island.
“If we can petition to the President to proclaim all public lands of Mindanao as economic zones because based on our experience when we started the five public zones all the others followed resulting in various public ecozones and private ecozones,” said Plaza in her keynote speech at the Mindanao Wide Ecozone Summit 2020.
Plaza further noted that the creation of these ecozones have resulted in development and progress in the host localities. She also stressed that proclaiming idle lands in Mindanao as special economic zones will create social progress, development and peace and prosperity.
At present, there are only 105 local government units hosting ecozones out of over 1,000 municipalities and cities in the country.
