The Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO) is asking Congress for stronger budget support to keep an estimated P18 billion investment pipeline moving, warning that a sharp funding cut could undermine the economic zone’s ability to attract investors.
APECO President and CEO Gil Taway IV told lawmakers that the agency’s proposed 2027 budget was reduced to about P67 million from its requested funding, leaving little room for operations and investor support.
“It actually threatens, Your Honor, the demise of APECO,” Taway said.
He said about P61 million of the allocation would go to personnel services, leaving just P6 million for maintenance and other operating expenses.
The squeeze comes as APECO is pursuing investment prospects in renewable energy, defense manufacturing, digital infrastructure, healthcare, logistics, and port development.
Among the projects in the pipeline is a proposed 50- to 100-megawatt solar facility by a Singapore-based energy company.
APECO is also working with InfiniVAN on EcoConnect, a digital infrastructure project that includes a cable landing station, while a US defense company is preparing to break ground on a facility initially focused on drone testing, operations, maintenance, repair, and overhaul.
The defense project could eventually expand into drone and anti-drone manufacturing, potentially adding a higher-value industrial activity to the economic zone.
APECO is likewise pursuing port development opportunities, including discussions with the Port of Antwerp-Bruges and South Korean engineering firm Yooshin.
Taway said the agency has made progress in cleaning up its project portfolio, completing seven of nine previously abandoned projects and delivering 27 infrastructure projects.
More than half of those infrastructure projects are already generating revenue, he said.
The developments highlight APECO’s push to become financially self-sustaining, but Taway said the agency still needs government support to get there.
“We are getting there,” he said. “We are humbly seeking the support of our honorable members of the House.”
For APECO, the budget debate is therefore less about keeping an agency running and more about giving an investment pipeline a chance to move from leads to actual projects, jobs, infrastructure, and revenues.
