SPPI opens leading-edge 200-ha ecozone in Malvar, Batangas

SCIENCE PARK

A 200-hectare area for light manufacturing in Malvar, Batangas, is now available for foreign and local locators. This was revealed by Science Park of the Philippines Inc. (SPPI) chair and CEO Guillermo D. Luchangco to Inquirer Property.

Light Industry and Science Park (LISP) IV is the sixth project of SPPI, the nation’s leading private industrial estate developer. Masterplanned by US-based international interdisciplinary planning and design firm Sasaki Associates, it will soon rise on the grassy flatlands of Batangas.

The industrial area is part of an integrated mixed-use property development dubbed Malvar Cybergreen. Also included in the development are a 10-ha vibrant retail and educational destination which creates a heart for the larger Malvar community and a 40-ha residential neighborhood nestled in a picturesque setting made up of rolling hills and majestic tropical vegetation.

The unifying visual element that links each of these areas together is an open space system that utilizes the site’s scenic ravines, thus creating a distinct landscape identity. By providing a place to live, work, shop, learn and relax, this new high-quality development is expected to attract multinational and local locators, skilled employees and residents in the area.

Strategic access

Just like SPPI’s earlier industrial estates, LISP IV will provide strategic access to its locators. It is 35 kilometers away from the Batangas International Port. The industrial estate also lies alongside the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road, which links it to Metro Manila’s central business district.

It also offers these features: reliable power and water supply, state-of-the-art telecommunications facilities, park security, in-house firefighting equipment and crew, and its multiawarded programs for both environmental management and community development.

SPPI is known for its investor-friendly team whose members provide complete site management services from site location up to the locator company’s industrial park operation. This workgroup enables SPPI’s locator companies to begin the venture with great energy, involvement and competence, and focus on what they do best as soon as they come to the country.

The development of the residential and commercial components of Malvar Cybergreen will be done by Pueblo de Oro Development Corp. (PODC), SPPI’s subsidiary. PODC developed in Cagayan de Oro City the Pueblo de Oro township, a 360-ha property with residential subdivisions for various market segments and an 18-hole all-weather championship golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones II. It also put up Mindanao’s first IT ecozone approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza). The township not only has a commercial area anchored by SM Mall but also institutional facilities like Xavier University, hotel, church and government offices.

Track record

SPPI boasts of being a key building block to developing many of the country’s key manufacturing plants since 1989. It has almost 800 ha of prime industrial estates spread in six strategic locations across the country: 175-ha LISP I in Cabuyao, Laguna; 65-ha LISP II in Calamba, Laguna; 109-ha LISP III in Santo Tomas, Batangas; 200-ha LISP IV in Malvar, Batangas; 162-ha Hermosa Ecozone Industrial Park in Hermosa, Bataan; and 62-hectare Cebu Light Industrial Park in Mactan, Cebu.

Bruited about as a pioneer and leader in private industrial estate development in the country, SPPI manages the six industrial estates which are in various stages of development or operation.

Its initial venture, Light Industry and Science Park I, has an Ohsas (Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series) 18001 certification, an internationally recognized health and safety management system.

SPPI is also a Peza Hall of Fame awardee in both environmental management and community development. It is the first Oscar Escobar awardee for air-quality management given by the Concerned Citizens Against Pollution.

Many firsts

SPPI claims to have accomplished the following firsts:

–LISP I and LISP II are the countryís first privately owned industrial estates to be ISO 9001 (Quality Management Systems) and also the first to be ISO 14001 (Environmental Management Systems) certified.

–The first to have won, for three consecutive years (1997-1999), Best Community Project by Peza in recognition of its exemplary activities in social and community development in the areas around its projects.

— The first industrial estate to receive a special recognition from the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Philippine Association of Environmental Assessment Professionals for its achievement in environmental impact assessment as a result of its leadership in environmental management and pollution control.

— The first industrial estate with a material recovery facility where materials that are sourced from locators are recycled and segregated.

— The first industrial estate to receive a special citation from PMAP for its concern for the environment.

— The first privately owned industrial estate to be granted approval to operate a Special Export Processing Zone by Peza.

— The first privately owned industrial estate to be registered with the Board of Investments.

— The first among major privately owned industrial estates to secure conversion of its land to industrial status under the governmentís Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

— The first to build an interchange linking a national expressway with a privately owned industrial estate. Called Cabuyao Interchange, this was donated by SPPI to the government in December 1991.

Available data for SPPI’s three industrial estates follow: LISP I, 64 companies and 25,500 employees; LISP II, 27 companies and 9,500 employees; and LISP III, 21 companies and 5,820 employees.

LISP I has two wastewater treatment plants. The eco-friendly industrial estate has a Japanese Koi (Carp) and Tilapia-filled lagoon in the middle of the tree-laden park, which is a natural bird habitat and home to numerous local bird species and temporary refuge for migratory birds from other regions. There is a sports complex with basketball and badminton courts built by the locators association. A clinic is being run by San Jose Hospital and Trauma Center based in Gen. Mariano Alvarez, Cavite province.

LISP I was masterplanned by Pacific Engineers Consultants Ltd., the Taiwan-based subsidiary of Bechtel Corp., one of the largest construction and civil engineering companies in the United States.

Every industrial estate of SPPI provides to all its locators these world-class facilities and services: reliable electric grid; steady water supply system; centralized wastewater treatment plant; drainage and storm water management system; highway-grade road network; security and firefighting capabilities; and telecommunications facilities. It also has an administration building as well as a service and maintenance building. Transportation within the estate and health-care facilities are being provided to assist in the daily needs of its locators.

The usual features of an SPPI industrial park are the following:

— It is strategically located: near international airport and seaport for shipment of goods and raw materials; or close to expressways or main avenues.

— It is registered as an Ecozone with Peza. Its special economic zone status is proclaimed by the Philippine government.

— It has a one-stop shop: on-site park management and operations team, Peza and customs office and bank services. In addition, freight forwarding services are available to all locators.