CLARK FREEPORT — The year 2025 is another banner year for the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) with massive investments and sustainable development.
In his message during the Central Luzon Media Year-End Fellowship, BCDA President and Chief Executive Officer Joshua Bingcang said the state firm will sustain its gains to support and create more jobs in the countryside.
Among those gains were the record P70 billion new foreign direct investments (FDIs) poured in various economic zones under the BCDA in 2025.
One of the biggest investors came from Australia with the establishment of StB Giga Factory in New Clark City, the first lithium iron phosphate battery manufacturer in the Philippines.
In 2026, the BCDA is aiming to achieve P100 billion mark in investments specially in the areas of semiconductor, data center, renewable energy, and information and communications technology (ICT).
Part of the investment pipelines is fresh FDIs by semiconductor firms from Taiwan and the United States.
Bingcang has emphasized that with the increase in investments, BCDA has consistently remitted about P5 billion worth of dividends annually during the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
It became part of the budget in the continuous modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
The BCDA likewise aims to increase the annual dividend to P6 billion to boost the Revised AFP Modernization Program as well as to support Republic Act 12024, otherwise known as the Self-Reliant Defense Posture Revitalization Act.
As the state firm is on the high gear on investment promotions and facilitations, it will fast-track big ticket infrastructure projects to further attract more investments.
BCDA is set to bid the contract of the construction of the Subic-Clark segment of the Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas Freight Railway Project as part of the Luzon Economic Corridor, under a trilateral agreement forged by the United States, Japan and the Philippines in 2024 in line with G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investments.
The freight railway project’s alignment will traverse parallel with the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.
Apart from the US$3.8 million grant provided by the United States Trade and Development Agency for the technical assistance, Sweden also provided $1.3 million through SwedFund International for the feasibility study of the project.
Construction is expected to commence by 2027 to enhance cargo mobility, defense and economic development in the urban beltway of Central Luzon, National Capital Region, and CALABARZON.
