The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) is seeking to overhaul its three-decade-old charter to broaden its regulatory powers and accelerate the entry of foreign capital into the domestic economy.

PEZA Director General Tereso Panga said he is in talks with lawmakers in Congress for the filing of a legislative measure aimed at amending the Special Economic Zone Act of 1995, which established the agency.

“It's high time that we revisit the provisions, align it with global standards, where we modernize the way we do business in the ecozones,” Panga told reporters last week.

Panga said possible bill sponsors in the House of Representatives include Antique Rep. Antonio Legarda, who chairs the committee on economic affairs, and Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez.

One of the amendments PEZA is pushing for is a faster proclamation process for ecozones, enabling the opening of more strategic locations across the country where companies can invest.

Currently, ecozones and their corresponding incentives are established only after the president proclaims them, a process that often takes time and leaves investors in prolonged uncertainty.

This contrasts with other IPs, such as the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), which have the authority to designate areas and industry-specific developments as ecozones.

“We're hoping that the process will be a lot faster in terms of proclamation because you really need to accelerate entry of investments,” said Panga.

PEZA is targeting the proclamation of at least 30 ecozones this year.

Complementing this, PEZA also aims to broaden the definition of ecozones to accommodate specific industries.

Last year, the agency identified aquamarine, aviation, aerospace, aerotropolis, biotech centers, logistics hubs, and creative industries as potential industry-specific ecozones that the country could develop.

In addition, Panga said they are seeking greater authority to enforce the Fire Safety Code and issue certificates of origin, to prevent overlap with other agencies and further affirm PEZA’s mandate as a one-stop shop.

He also said they will propose creating two additional deputy director general roles to strengthen oversight and enable faster decision-making across the agency’s expanding ecozone portfolio.

PEZA is aiming to approve ₱300 billion in investment pledges this year, up 15 percent from ₱260.89 billion in investments last year.

For January, the agency’s approvals were down 57 percent to ₱12.86 billion from ₱30.16 billion in the same month last year.

Despite the sharp decline, Panga said PEZA remains on track to reach the ₱300 billion goal.

“Usually, January is down because it's usually during the fourth quarter of the year that companies peak with their operations and exports. So slowly they will be ramping up. We're hoping that we can get more projects in the coming months,” he said.