Economist-Congressman Joey Salceda only has good things to say about the permanent appointment of Tereso Panga as director-general of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). Salceda went as far to say that the move "will help stabilize investor sentiment". "Moving forward, I expect to continue to work with DG Panga on a number of issues," said Salceda, Albay's 2nd district representative and chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means. He said these issues include "respecting the cross-border doctrine with respect to value-added tax (VAT); maximizing the investor promotion mandate of PEZA specifically for manufacturing; and addressing structural issues affecting our exporters, such as power, labor, and logistics costs". "This time, we can work with more certainty," noted Salceda. "I imagine PEZA taking on a more critical role in our logistics sector by building economic zones around our new international airports. There is also a move towards integrated agri-industrial and agro-aqua-industrial zones, where PEZA expertise in attracting investors could play a key role," he said. Salceda hoped that, with Panga at the helm, he and PEZA could address the rampant smuggling of agricultural and excisable products. "I am already working with colleagues from the Northern Alliance to tighten the noose on tobacco smuggling. PEZA, being given the police authority in its supervised ecozones, has a major role in fighting smuggling in oil, vegetables, sugar, and other key commodities through ecozones," he said. "I expect that we will hear from the PEZA director-general on his plans now that he has a more secure tenure in the agency, when session resumes in early May," added Salceda. The House, and the Senate for that matter are currently on a six-week summer break. They last held their respective sessions last March 22.