Clark Freeport Zone is a redevelopment of the former Clark Air Base

Clark Air Base

Clark Air Base is a former United States Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located 3 miles west of Angeles City, about 40 miles northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was an American military facility from 1903 to 1991...

, a former United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 base in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. It is located on the northwest side of Angeles City

Angeles City

The City of Angeles , located within the province of Pampanga in the Philippines, is locally classified as a first-class, highly-urbanized city. Its name is derived from El Pueblo de los Ángeles in honor of its patron saints, Los Santos Ángeles de los Custodios , and the name of its founder, Don...

 and borders the municipality of Mabalacat

Mabalacat, Pampanga

Mabalacat is a 1st class municipality in the northern part of the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 203,307 people in 35,134 households....

 in the province of Pampanga

Pampanga

Pampanga is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. Pampanga is bordered by the provinces of Bataan and Zambales to the west, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija to the north, and Bulacan to the southeast...

. It is located about 40 miles (60 km) northwest of Metro Manila

Metro Manila

Metropolitan Manila , the National Capital Region , or simply Metro Manila, is the metropolitan region encompassing the City of Manila and its surrounding areas in the Philippines...

. The zone is a former US military base and has modern infrastructure facilities, generous fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, professional support services and other amenities.

The Master Plan for the 4,400-hectare main zone and 27,600-hectare sub zone will transform the zone into an airport-driven urban center targeting high-end IT enabled industries, aviation and logistics related enterprises, tourism and other sectors.

History

In 1995, following years of neglect, cleanup and removal of volcanic ash deposits at the former Clark AB began. The former base re-emerged as Diosdado Macapagal International Airport

Diosdado Macapagal International Airport

Diosdado Macapagal International Airport , also called Clark International Airport , is the main airport serving the immediate vicinity of the Clark Freeport Zone and the general area of Angeles City in the Philippines...

 (Clark International Airport) and Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ). The airfield infrastructure was improved to make it one of the most modern in Asia, and a second parallel runway was built. The former base is now home to a golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

 resort, a number of industrial buildings, casinos, landmarks, and retail establishments. It also hosts the annual Balikatan exercises between the United States and Philippines Armed Forces.

Though many events still occur at Clark, critics have said that the American government left some residual toxic chemicals that now affect the groundwater near the base. Native Filipinos who live nearby show signs of the adverse effects of these chemicals, such as mercury, resulting in leukemia, gangrene, and other severe diseases and health problems. The United States denies responsibility for these actions. A CRC (Clearwater Revival Company) report claimed that "until a more detailed investigation of uncontrolled hazardous waste sites at Clark AB is completed no conclusions can be reached about the present or future safety of the groundwater supply basin." Several organizations, such as FACES (Filipino American Coalition for Environmental Safeguards) and PTFBC (People Task Force for Bases Clean-up), have attempted to begin the detoxification process on the bases.

On March 20, 2007, Clark Air Base was renamed Clark Freeport Philippines, as mandated by Senate Bill

Senate of the Philippines

The Senate of the Philippines is the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, the Congress of the Philippines...

 2260 of the 13th Congress and signed into law by President

President of the Philippines

The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines...

 Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is a Filipino politician who served as the 14th President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010, as the 12th Vice President of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, and is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the 2nd District of Pampanga...

. Turning Clark into a freeport entitles investors to the same tax-free and other duty-free privileges enjoyed by their counterparts at the Subic Bay Freeport

Subic Bay Freeport Zone

Subic Bay Freeport Zone , which is known simply as Subic Bay, is the Philippines' first success case of a into a tax- and duty-free zone similar to Hong Kong and Singapore, operated and managed by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority or SBMA. It covers the fenced area of the former U.S...

.

Under the new law, Clark Development Corporation (CDC) will remain as administrator of the 4,500-hectare Clark freeport. A subsidiary, Clark International Airport Corporation, runs the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport. Benny Ricafort, on July 10, 2008, was the next president and chief executive officer of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC), to replace Levy Laus effective July 31. Edgardo Pamintuan is the chair of the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development (SCAD) Council.

Since the CDC was created in 1993 to administer Clark, some 389 foreign and domestic investors have moved into the zone, generating some PhP24.3 billion (about US$501.1 million) worth of investments. As of March 2007, over 47,000 people, mostly from Pampanga

Pampanga

Pampanga is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. Pampanga is bordered by the provinces of Bataan and Zambales to the west, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija to the north, and Bulacan to the southeast...

, Tarlac

Tarlac

Tarlac is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the Luzon Island. Its capital is Tarlac City. Tarlac borders Pampanga to the south, Nueva Ecija to the east, Pangasinan to the north, and Zambales to the west...

 and Bulacan

Bulacan

Bulacan , officially called the Province of Bulacan or simply Bulacan Province, is a first class province of the Republic of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Region in the island of Luzon, north of Manila , and part of the Metro...

provinces, are currently employed at Clark.