Various stakeholders of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) have endorsed to Malacanang Officer-in-charge (OIC) Deputy Director General Tereso O. Panga to stay on as leader of the agency that administers the country’s economic zones and their export-oriented locators.
The endorsements addressed to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. came from the leading ecozone industry organizations such as PEZA Employees’ Association (PEZAEA), IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), Philippine Ecozone Associations (PHILEA), The Semiconductors and Electronics in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (SEIPI), the Cavite Export Zone Investors Association (CEZIA), and the Mactan Export Processing Zone Chamber of Exporters and Manufacturers (MEPZCEM).
All these groups signed separate petitions endorsing to the Office of the President (OP) the current OIC Panga to be the next PEZA Director General.
PEZA employees stood by and rallied behind their OIC. In a statement signed by PEZAEA President Grethel D. Tan, PEZA employees stated, “It is under the dynamic leadership of OIC Panga that the Authority has come into its best shape. In just a short term, OIC Panga has already instituted reforms in PEZA that were all highly favored by the locators, developers, stakeholders, and PEZA employees.”
In December 2022, a survey was conducted by PEZAEA on the employees’ satisfaction with the management and leadership of OIC Panga. The survey had 505 respondents, which represents 85 percent of the total manpower complement of PEZA. OIC Panga was given a 4.80 satisfaction rating, and employees likewise commended his leadership. The survey likewise expressed how hopeful the employees have become under his leadership.
“OIC Panga always exercises utmost honesty and integrity in discharging his duties and functions as head of PEZA, assisted by Management Committee members. Despite the allegations and controversies that continuously arose, OIC Panga always takes the high road and focuses on PEZA’s mandate to promote and facilitate investments to create more ecozones and generate jobs for Filipinos,” the endorsement added.
The IBPAP organization firmly believes that Panga will enable PEZA to deliver its mandate of stimulating countryside development thereby creating a robust economy through establishment of more IT Parks in new growth areas outside the metropolis as ready location for BPO companies.
“Even before his appointment as OIC, Mr. Panga has always gone above and beyond for the industry, always accessible and ready with a listening ear and sound advice that’s grounded in his institutional knowledge of PEZA policies and a deep understanding of the IT-BPM sector’s needs that will ensure sustained jobs creation and retention,” said the IBPAP letter signed by its president and CEO Jack Madrid.
For SEIPI, the largest organization of foreign and Filipino electronics companies in the Philippines, where most of them are registered with PEZA, SEIPI President Dr. Dan La Chica stated that “by appointing the right people to take the helm of the agencies involved in attracting foreign investments, together with policy coherence, and a consistent implementation of the ease of doing business, we can truly improve our FDI ranking in the ASEAN region.” Ecozone Locators into electronics/semiconductor are the biggest investors and exporters in PEZA. Ecozone-manufactured exports account for 80% of the total country’s annual commodity exports.
Corporate members of PHILEA, who are responsible for developing fully integrated world-class and environment-friendly ecozones nationwide with poured in investment of P1.3 trillion to date, pointed out that “from a humble, unnoticed agency, PEZA grew over the years to become one of the pillars of the country’s economic resilience, and Mr. Panga was a key and integral part of that agency transformation.”
Citing Panga for having rose from the ranks over the past 24 years of continued service to PEZA, PHILEA President Francisco S. Zaldarriaga said such feat is a “testimony of capability” to lead the agency.
Investors in CEZIA and the MEPZCEM likewise expressed support for Panga. In their petition to the President, CEZIA said that Panga as deputy chief for policy and planning was exposed to crafting plans and policies that will make the economic zones and the Philippines “more attractive and conducive” for foreign investments.
The MEPZCEM Chamber Inc. said in their letter to the President that it will be most beneficial to investors and the 122,000 workers in the ecozone with Panga at the helm of PEZA.
Overall, ecozone industry organizations have shown their confidence in Panga and PEZA, together with the stakeholders, to execute the next strategic and forward-thinking strategies to attract more investors, especially in the digital economy which is poised to achieve two years ahead of forecast $20 billion in gross merchandise value this year and increase it to $35 billion by 2025.
With OIC Panga at the helm, PEZA approved P140.7 billion investment this year, a 103 percent increase over 2021. This year’s investment pledges exceeded the previous peak of P140.2 billion in 2018, breaking a 4-year downturn.
Moreover, PEZA approved this year 29 new and expansion ecozones with a total capital investment of P96.2 billion. 11 of these ecozone developer projects were approved during the PBBM administration, which accounted for P90.6 billion investments. OIC Panga likewise argued for NEDA's inclusion of the ecozone program in the Philippine Development Plan as a key strategy for accelerating countryside development and economic growth.
Having grown from the ranks initially as Planning Officer 4, Panga has occupied various important positions in the PEZA organization by merit from Division Chief of Policy and Planning, to Zone Manager of Batangas ecozones, Zone Administrator of Baguio City Economic and Cavite Economic Zone, and to his concurrent position as Deputy Director General for Policy and Planning, which he held since 2010 making him the most senior next in rank in PEZA.