The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (abbreviated as "SBMA", fil, Pangasiwaang Panlungsod ng Subic Bay) is a governmental agency of the Philippines. Sometimes abbreviated as SBMA, the agency has played a significant part in the development of the Subic Bay Freeport and the

Special Economic Zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

into a self-sustainable area that promotes the industrial, commercial, investment, and financial areas of trade in the zone as well as in the country of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

itself. The area of jurisdiction of SBMA includes the erstwhile U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay, parts of Redondo peninsula where the Subic Hanjin shipyard is located, and erstwhile US defence accommodations in the hills consisting of Binictican and Kalayan housing areas. The SBMA is currently headed by former City Mayor of

Olongapo Olongapo, officially the City of Olongapo ( fil, Lungsod ng Olongapo; ilo, Siudad ti Olongapo; xsb, Siyodad nin Olongapo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Located in the province of Zambales ...

Rolen Paulino as of March 1, 2022. His predecessor as Chairman and Administrator from 2017 to 2022 was lawyer and public affairs manager of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Company Inc. (PMFTC) Wilma T. Eisma.

History

On March 13, 1992, the Philippine Congress passed Republic Act 7227, known as the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992, in anticipation of the pullout of the US military bases in the country. Section 13 of Republic Act No. 7227 created the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) to develop and manage the Freeport which provides tax and duty-free privileges and incentives to business locators in the special economic zone. Richard Gordon, then the mayor of the City of Olongapo, became the first SBMA chairman. Mayor Gordon with 8,000 volunteers took over the facility to preserve and protect US$8 billion worth of property and facilities when the last U.S. Navy helicopter carrier USS ''Belleau Wood'' sailed out of Subic Bay on November 24, 1992. They started the conversion of the military base into a freeport like Hong Kong and Singapore. On its fourth anniversary on November 24, 1996, Subic Bay hosted the leaders of 18 economies during the Fourth Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Summit. By that time, the emerging investment haven had already successfully attracted companies such as

Federal Express FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name ...

Enron Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional compani ...

, Coastal Petroleum (now part of Kinder Morgan), Taiwan computer giant Acer and France telecoms company

Thomson SA Thomson may refer to: Names * Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin * Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson Businesses and organizations * SGS-Thomson M ...

to establish operations in the freeport.

Subic Bay Historical Center

The Authority opened a history center. It has an exhibit about

hell ship A hell ship is a ship with extremely inhumane living conditions or with a reputation for cruelty among the crew. It now generally refers to the ships used by the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army to transport Allied prisoners o ...

s, and other recoveries in Subic Bay's maritime history.

List of SBMA Chairman and Administrators

References

{{authority control Government agencies under the Office of the President of the Philippines Government-owned and controlled corporations of the Philippines Politics of Olongapo Politics of Zambales Politics of Bataan Government agencies established in 1992 Subic Special Economic and Freeport Zone