Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan

The Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) is a government agency attached to the Office of the President of the Philippines that operates and manages the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) in Mariveles, Bataan, Philippines. It was created on October 23, 2009 through RA 9728 and took over the zone's operations and management from Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) on June 29, 2010 which resulted on the abolishment of BEPZ/BEZ the following day in June 30.

The FAB was originally designed as an Export Processing Zone. Its existing infrastructures include 11 Standard Factory Buildings (SFB) with three stories each, and a total working area of 8,352 m2. per SFB. It is currently home to over 50 locators engaged in manufacturing products for export ranging from tennis balls to yachts. AFAB also has two locators using their facilities for warehousing, one locator engaged in animal feeds processing and an enterprise currently constructing a clean coal power plant. These enterprises employ a total of 13,443 workers.

The objective of the AFAB is to revive the area and expand the Freeport. To accomplish these objectives, the Freeport seeks to attract more locators in the manufacturing, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), electronics industries and green industries, among others. It is also seeking investors to boost its tourism capabilities by refurbishing its existing recreational facilities. The AFAB is also targeting new investors to build hotels, entertainment establishments, duty-free shops, resorts, team-building facilities, and sports facilities, among others, to encourage the influx of local and foreign tourists. It also hopes to attract a medical center to the Freeport with a view towards medical tourism. Finally, it aims to encourage universities and colleges to locate in the area, to create and sustain a talent pool that can service the human resource needs of the locators.

Prior history
Prior to the creation of BEPZ, the area where the freeport zone is currently located was formerly part of barangay Camaya and barrio of NASSCO (National Shipyard and Steel Corporation) under the jurisdiction of municipality of Mariveles. Barangays Malaya and Maligaya, the two barangays of Mariveles that are also under the jurisdiction of BEPZ, were formerly mountainous areas prior to the zone's creation.

World War II gave Bataan its place in humanity’s darkest history and made this war-torn fishing village one of two starting points to a brutal, long march that saw thousands of Filipino soldiers and hundreds of their American counterparts killed.

In April 1942, the infamous Bataan Death March began—from the towns of Bagac and Mariveles in Bataan province to Capas town in the province of Tarlac.

The war changed the tempo of life in Mariveles, relegating it to an economy of subsistence, where farmers heavily depended on the yield of the land and catch from the sea for their existence.

When NASSCO complex was set up in 1950, families of the Nassco workers began to inhabit a large piece of land which had been used by the US Navy as a base. NASSCO told the workers to stay where they like. Therefore the NASSCO community was formed.

Until the late 1960s, Mariveles was largely underdeveloped. It had a rickety road network, with businesses centered mostly on sari-sari stores catering to the everyday needs of community residents. Farming and fishing remained the community’s main source of income.

When President Marcos declared the establishment of BEPZ in Mariveles in order to hasten the hope for an industrialized Philippines, NASSCO inhabitants were requested to move out from the zone where they had been living for over 20 years and transfer to other parts of the municipality but they were not given proper places nearby and they received no compensation. Housing in Mariveles thus became overcrowded.

1969–2009: Foreign Trade Zone Authority and Export Processing Zone Authority/Philippine Economic Zone Authority
On June 21, 1969, Congressman Pablo Roman, Sr. authored Republic Act 5490 designating Mariveles, Bataan as the first free trade zone in the Philippines.

In early 1972, three congressmen — Roman, Roces, and Sarmiento - sponsored the bill to convert the free trade zone authority into government corporation. This would grant the power of a corporation combined with the coercive strength of the Philippine Government to move the project ahead, especially regarding the relocation of residents. The bill stalled in Congress due to the opposition of many members to the vested interests involved.

On November 20, 1972, the Bataan Export Processing Zone (BEPZ) became the first official economic zone in the Philippines through Presidential Decree 66 (which also created Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA), later became Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA)). The BEPZ was one of the most progressive communities in Luzon during its first decade of operation. The area attracted over one hundred multinational locators.

In 1976, Mattel established a wholly owned subsidiary called Mattel Philippines, Inc. within BEPZ to minimize expenses, notably in manufacturing. Barbie dolls, as well as some of the dolls' clothes and accessories, were manufactured at the factory and subsequently dsitributed to various countries across the world.

However, in the 90s to 2000s BEPZ (now renamed as Bataan Economic Zone or BEZ after the enactment of Republic Act 7916 in February 1995 ) stagnated and declined after it was outcompeted by two newly formed freeport zones from the remnants of American bases in nearby Clark and Subic Bay.

2008–2010: Conversion from BEPZ/BEZ to FAB, transition of the zone's operations and management from PEZA to AFAB
To put a halt to BEZ's decline and allow the zone to fulfill its original mandate to become a catalyst for progress and development in the region, Bataan 2nd District Congressman Albert S. Garcia and Senator Loren Legarda authored a bill for the conversion of Bataan Economic Zone into a freeport and creation of Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB). On May 6 and June 6, 2008, the consultative meeting on House Bill 1425 and Senate Bill 2118 known as Bataan Special Economic Zone and Freeport Act of 2008 was held. Legarda said that the conversion to a freeport zone will generate more investment for Bataan. It also helps to address the government's efforts of creating 2 million jobs per year to be able to neutralize the rate of unemployment in the country.

The Philippine Congress then passed the Freeport Area of Bataan Act (Republic Act 9728), which was enacted into law on October 23, 2009. This Act converted BEZ into FAB, and created AFAB which started the eight-month transition period of the zone's operations and management from PEZA to the former and the subsequent abolishment of BEPZ/BEZ from October 2009 to June 30, 2010. It is also when PEZA continued to operate and manage the zone and the Bataan Export Processing Zone and Bataan Economic Zone names became the zone's secondary name during the transition until June 29 and 30, 2010, respectively, as there were still remaining programs and plans of PEZA and BEPZ/BEZ needed to be completed including the turnover to AFAB on June 29 before abolishing BEPZ/BEZ on June 30.

During the transition of operations and management from PEZA to AFAB in 2010, the question "Are you ready for the FAB?" is printed on signboards posted in various parts of Bataan, referring to the preparation for the turnover of the zone to AFAB.

Five months after AFAB's creation and conversion from BEZ to FAB, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appointed Deogracias G.P. Custodio as the first AFAB chairman and administrator in March 2010.

2010–present: Full operations and management of AFAB, abolishment of BEPZ/BEZ
On June 29, 2010, one day before the end of the administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her successor Benigno Aquino III became President of the Philippines, PEZA turned over the zone's operations and management to AFAB at 1:25 pm. As a result of the turnover from PEZA to AFAB, BEPZ/BEZ were abolished the following day at the end of Arroyo administration and Aquino III became president in June 30, AFAB's first whole day of operations and management over the zone and working of the zone's employees under their new name which are FAB workers.

AFAB issues its sticker to enter the zone's premises since 2011 which succeeded the BEZ sticker that were produced until 2010 during the transition period from PEZA to AFAB and has been in use until 2011 or the first months of AFAB's operations and management over the zone.

On late August 2010, AFAB removed the PEZA and BEZ names on the zone's administration building and a welcome sign along Roman Superhighway which made the red part of the BEPZ/BEZ/PEZA logo became all blue as one of the projects of AFAB made during its first few months of operation and management over the zone and then the said logo was next to be removed by placing a cement on a part of the building where the logo is in 2012. These were done to reflect the June 2010 turnover from PEZA to AFAB and the subsequent abolishment of BEPZ/BEZ.

Despite the turnover from PEZA to AFAB, there are still traces and references of BEPZ/BEZ and PEZA still left that were not yet removed, such as on some signages found on Mariveles Zigzag Road and on a newer welcome sign located after the zone's another sign with a guard house along the said highway. The BEZ sticker is still effective until FAB started to issue its own sticker in 2011 which succeeded the former. FAB initially had 39 enterprises and 12,777 workers by the time of conversion of the zone from BEZ to FAB and turnover of the zone's operations and management from PEZA to AFAB which inherited from its predecessor BEZ.

On October 2010, AFAB launched its website as part of its first anniversary and of the conversion from BEPZ/BEZ to FAB.

On August 30, 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11453, amending the provisions of RA 9728, and further strengthening the powers and functions of AFAB, enabling the freeport to expand its operation anywhere within the province of Bataan except the Hermosa and Morong portions of Subic Special Economic and Freeport Zone, another freeport zone located within the province and under the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), as defined by R.A. No. 7227.

Logo
The first logo of AFAB, used from its creation in October 23, 2009 to June 2014, featured a phoenix symbol and AFAB text on a red rectangle. The phoenix symbolizes the change or turnover of the zone's operations and management from PEZA to AFAB on June 29, 2010 and the subsequent abolishment of BEPZ/BEZ on June 30 - a rebirth of sorts. It was concurrently used with the 2011 FAB logo until the said month of 2014.

The second and current logo of AFAB, used since April 2011, features the FAB in blue text with red and blue swirl or spiral on the upper-right of the text, and the text "Freeport Area of Bataan" below. The swirl or spiral of the logo symbolizes growth, swirl's interlocking parts represents trade and partnership, and red and blue are reminiscent of national pride, with red exudes determination, passion and strength, and blue depicts stability and depth. This logo is currently used on the freeport zone's administration building since 2012.

Administration
The Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) is headed by a Chairperson, duly-elected from a 9-member AFAB Board of Directors (AFAB BOD), and an Administrator that oversees the day-to-day operations of the AFAB. The Administrator is also considered as a director and a member of the AFAB BOD, but shall in no case be, elected as the Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson of the AFAB BOD. Each Board member represents a sector that is vital to the growth and development of the FAB. All members, including the chairperson and the administrator, are appointed by the President of the Philippines.

The AFAB may grant to its FAB Registered Enterprises incentives under Republic Act No. 11534 or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE).