CLARK FIELD — Not contented with its sprawling mall drawing the crowds at the San Fernando exit of the North Luzon Expressway, SM will build soon a P500-million shopping center near the Balibago gate of the Clark Special Economic Zone in Angeles.

Groundbreaking at the 16.5-hectare site has been set this October, according to Dr. Emmanuel Angeles, president of the Clark Development Corp. He said that SM has an option to use another 5.5 hectares for expansion.

Angeles said the SM at Clark will sell only tax-paid, not duty-free, goods. It is projected to employ from 2,000 to 10,000 workers, drawn mostly from the local communities.

In relation to the project, SM has a commitment to upgrade the 12-hectare Bayanihan Park between the Balibago gate and the MacArthur highway. For that project, Henry Sy Jr. of Primer Central Inc. has promised P50 million as initial outlay.

The upgraded park, which is now mostly a dry, dusty grass patch, will feature a terminal for passenger vehicles and amenities for strollers.

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AIRPORT GETTING BUSIER: With the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport being upgraded, the United Parcel Service (UPS) is all set to increase its cargo service here from six to eight flights daily.

Federal Express is also reportedly negotiating with CDC the possibility of its basing its regional operations in Clark. It is now operating from the Subic Bay freeport zone.

Joining the rush, Asiana Airlines of Korea is preparing to start in September its thrice-weekly flight from the Clark airport. Other airlines are reportedly studying similar moves.

To boost commercial air traffic here, some groups are pressing plans to consolidate in Clark the departure of overseas workers from Central Luzon so the workers do not have to go all the way to Manila to catch their flights.

Angeles said the decision of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to accelerate the upgrading of the Clark airport and the ecozone in general has been an impetus for these encouraging developments.

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UNFOUNDED FEARS: When we were still debating more than a decade ago whether or not to allow the US lease on military bases to expire as scheduled in 1991, pro-bases elements hanged over our heads the bugaboo of economic dislocation.

The defenders of American military presence bombarded us with warnings that US pullout would throw out thousands of Filipino base workers who would find difficulty finding alternative jobs. We had friends and relations among them.

In addition, we were warned, base contracting and entertainment businesses ministering to the US servicemen would collapse and trigger an economic dislocation of awesome proportions.

Being from the community just outside Clark, we were among those who trembled at the thought of losing this dynamo pumping multimillions into the economy.

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PINATUBO BUTTS IN: As we wavered, Mother Nature intervened. Mt. Pinatubo, sleeping for the past 600 years a mile away in the Zambales ranges to the west, erupted in June 1991.

The fury of Pinatubo sent the last American holdouts scampering for safer grounds and sealed the de facto closure of Clark as the largest American military installation outside continental America.

It was a forced move. The US gave up what used to be the home of the US 13th Air Force, a strategic platform from which American military might was projected into the region.

In addition, the US also had to yield two precious jewels: Its naval base tucked in the mountains of Bataan facing Subic Bay, and its R&R retreat among the pine stands of John Hay in Baguio.

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MORE JOBS NOW: To our relief and surprise, the economic dislocation that almost everybody predicted did not come about.

On the contrary, while Clark under the Americans used to directly employ some 12,000 Filipinos and about 3,000 secondary workers (of US households and contractors), employment in the reinvented Clark Special Economic Zone has surpassed expectations.

Angeles said that Clark “has become not only one of the most sought after investment areas in the country, but also a livelihood and environment-friendly haven for the surrounding localities known as the Metro Clark area.”

He cited CDC records showing that 26,172 workers have found jobs in the ecozone as of last June 30. Of the number, 24,680 work with the 352 locator-firms.

Angeles said investor-firms here include 119 in industrial projects, 64 in commercial, 62 in service-oriented activities, 15 in info-tech, 28 in aviation-related business, nine in tourism-related and agro-industrial projects, 32 in housing, and 14 in utilities.

Industrial firms topped the employment list with 62.4 percent or 16,320 workers; followed by the IT and telecommunications companies with 13.2 percent or 3,447 workers. Tourism projects employ 2,231 workers, or 8.5 percent of the workforce.

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PAMPANGA WINDFALL: Other employment areas are: Sewing-related projects, 38 percent of the total workforce; electronics, 12 percent; furniture- making, four percent; and other industrial projects, eight percent.

The CDC itself has 1,003 employees, while indirectly employing 170 workers with security agencies, 175 street sweepers and 144 grass cutters.

Pampanga as host province has garnered the most number of jobs. Angeles City has the biggest share with 7,056 workers, or 26.96 percent. Mabalacat, the town that contributed the biggest land area to the base, has 5,313 workers, or 20.30 percent. Nearby Porac town has 1,007 workers, or four percent. The rest of Pampanga accounts for 7,588 workers.

The share of Tarlac province is 10.1 percent, or 2,621 workers, while Bulacan, Metro Manila and other provinces have 9.91 percent, or 2,594 workers.

Angeles said that in its 10 years of managing the transformation of the base into a model ecozone, CDC has provided employment to a total of 91,993 workers. He added that approved investment projects are expected to provide jobs to 75,362 in five years based on their employment commitment.

Incidentally, Clark will mark its 100th anniversary next month. Starting as Fort Stotsenberg in 1903 mainly as an outpost of the 5th Cavalry, the installation has grown to become Clark air base.

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PRO-ENVIRONMENT: Looking forward to making the zone not only worker-friendly but also environmentally safe, the CDC has completed the Clark Integrated Solid Waste Management Facility to make sure the wastes churned out by industry are properly disposed.

Angeles said the first phase of the Clark Sanitary Landfill, costing P200 million and developed by a German firm, provides disposal systems for wastes generated by locators. It is the first and only real sanitary landfill in the country to date.

To improve the landscaping and the viability of the ecosystem here, CDC has embarked on a re-greening program. More than 17,000 trees have been planted since January, surpassing the annual target of 10,000 new trees.

In addition to the acacias spread in picnic areas and along the roads, hardwood mahogany trees have been planted along with fruit-bearing and flowering varieties. These will grow alongside the older varieties, around 110,000 of them.