Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone

{{For|the military use of the area before December 1991|Clark Air Base}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Use Philippine English|date=November 2022}} {{Infobox settlement  | name = Clark | official_name = Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone | settlement_type = Freeport and special economic zone | image_skyline = Angelesjf9605 26.JPG | image_caption = Main gate of the Clark Freeport Zone in Angeles City | image_flag = | image_blank_emblem = Clark integrated brand logo.png | blank_emblem_type = Logo | blank_emblem_size = 150px | nickname = | motto = Clark: It works. Like a dream.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 27, 2018 |title=Clark: It works. Like a dream. |url=https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1015468 |access-date=August 19, 2019 |work=Philippine Information Agency}}</ref> | image_map = Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone map.svg | map_caption = Location of Clark Pampanga and Tarlac | pushpin_map = Luzon mainland#Philippines | pushpin_label = Clark | pushpin_label_position = left | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Luzon##Location in the Philippines | coordinates = {{coord|15.18493|120.5394|format=dms|dim:30_region:PH_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Philippines | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_type2 = Provinces | subdivision_name2 = Pampanga and Tarlac | subdivision_type3 = Cities and municipalities {{small|(portions)}} | subdivision_name1 = Central Luzon | subdivision_name3 = '''Pampanga'''<br />{{hlist|Angeles|Mabalacat|Porac}} '''Tarlac'''<br />{{hlist|Bamban|Capas}} | subdivision_type4 = Managing entity | subdivision_name4 = Clark Development Corporation | established_title = Established | established_date = April 3, 1993 | founder = | parts_type = | parts_style = | p1 = | government_footnotes = | government_type = | governing_body = | leader_party = | leader_title = | leader_name = | leader_title1 = | leader_name1 = | area_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web |title=Clark Special Economic Zone – Proclamation Map |url=http://maps.gisatclark.com/Sub%20Zone%20Proclaimation.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203053528/http://maps.gisatclark.com/Sub%20Zone%20Proclaimation.pdf |archive-date=February 3, 2021 |access-date=January 29, 2021 |website=GIS Section |publisher=Clark Development Corporation}}</ref> | area_total_km2 = 320.6 | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_total = {{PH wikidata|population_total}} | population_as_of = {{PH wikidata|population_as_of}} | population_footnotes = {{PH wikidata|population_reference}} | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = | population_note = | postal_code_type = ZIP code | postal_code = | area_code = | area_code_type = {{areacodestyle}} | blank_name_sec1 = Catholic diocese | blank_info_sec1 = Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando (Pampanga)<br />Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarlac (Tarlac) | website = {{URL|http://www.visitclark.com/}} and {{URL|https://www.clark.com.ph/}} | footnotes = | timezone = PST | utc_offset = +8 | mapframe = yes }} '''Clark''', officially the '''Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone''' ('''CFEZ'''), is a freeport and special economic zone in Central Luzon, Philippines, managed by the Clark Development Corporation (CDC),<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 8, 2017 |title=Join Foreign Chamber (JFC) meeting with Clark Development Corporation (CDC) |url=https://www.eccp.com/articles/?id=1700 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524221809/https://www.eccp.com/articles/?id=1700 |archive-date=May 24, 2018 |access-date=May 24, 2018 |publisher=European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines}}</ref> a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC). It covers portions of the cities and municipalities of Angeles, Mabalacat, and Porac in Pampanga, as well as Capas and Bamban in Tarlac.

The zone is divided into two areas: the Clark Freeport Zone (CFZ) and the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ). New Clark City is part of the CSEZ, while Clark Global City falls within the CFZ. The CFZ includes the area formerly occupied by Clark Air Base, a former United States Air Force facility. Most of the air base has been converted into Clark International Airport, with some portions still under the control of the Philippine Air Force.

Clark serves as a hub for business, industry, aviation, education, and tourism in the Philippines, as well as a center for leisure, fitness, entertainment, and gaming in Central Luzon.<ref name="TravelPH">{{Cite web |title=Clark Field Special Economic & Freeport Zone, Angeles, Pampanga Philippines |url=http://www.travelph.com/resorts/Clark/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122190731/http://www.travelph.com/resorts/Clark/index.htm |archive-date=November 22, 2007 |access-date=November 24, 2007 |website=TravelPH.com |publisher=Manila Forwarders Travel and Tours}}</ref>

==History== {{see also|Clark Air Base}}

===Establishment of the Clark Special Economic Zone=== The Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992 (Republic Act 7227) authorized the President to issue a decree converting the military reservation in the Clark area covering Angeles City, Mabalacat, and Porac, Pampanga and Capas, Tarlac into a special economic zone. The legislation also created the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to facilitate the conversion process.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 13, 1992 |title=Republic Act 7227: Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992 |url=http://www.chanrobles.com/republicactno7227.html#.WwZbA-6FPIU |access-date=May 24, 2018 |publisher=Congress of the Philippines}}</ref>

President Fidel V. Ramos issued Proclamation No. 163 on April 3, 1993, creating the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) and transferring the administration of the area to the BCDA. The proclamation included the Clark Air Base and portions of the Clark reverted base lands not reserved for military use to the CSEZ.<ref name="proc1035">{{Cite web |date=March 10, 2006 |title=Proclamation No. 1035, s. 2006 |url=http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2006/03/10/proclamation-no-1035-s-2006/ |access-date=May 24, 2018 |publisher=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines}}</ref> The Clark Development Corporation, a subsidiary of BCDA was founded to oversee the development of the area in the same year.<ref name="frommilitary">{{Cite news |last=de Villa |first=Kathleen |date=April 13, 2019 |title=From a military base to an economic hub |url=https://business.inquirer.net/268646/from-a-military-base-to-an-economic-hub |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414123344/https://business.inquirer.net/268646/from-a-military-base-to-an-economic-hub |archive-date=April 14, 2019 |access-date=January 29, 2021 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |language=en}}</ref> The Metro Clark Advisory Council (MCAC) was also formed shortly as a mechanism for the CDC to coordinate with local government units in the area.<ref name="mcac">{{Cite news |last=Cervantes |first=Ding |date=November 15, 2013 |title=CDC head: No plans to scrap Clark advisory council |url=https://www.philstar.com/nation/2013/11/15/1256724/cdc-head-no-plans-scrap-clark-advisory-council |access-date=January 29, 2021 |work=The Philippine Star}}</ref>

The following year, President Ramos declared Clark as the future site of a "premier" civilian international airport with a 14-million passenger capacity by 1998 but this plan did not come to fruition as projected.<ref name=frommilitary/>

On June 14, 1996, the CSEZ was expanded with the addition of the Sacobia area, which includes lands from Mabalacat, Pampanga and Bamban, Tarlac, through Ramos' Proclamation No. 805.<ref name="proc1035" />

The CSEZ was placed under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority on March 10, 2006, by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo through Proclamation No. 1035, granting tax and duty exemptions to export company locators operating within the CSEZ. The Clark economic zone lost these exemptions in 2005 after a Supreme Court ruling that these exemptions under the BCDA charter are exclusive to the Subic economic zone.<ref name="perks">{{Cite news |date=March 22, 2006 |title=Perks restored to Clark locators |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/content/2476/perks-restored-to-clark-locators/story/ |access-date=May 24, 2018 |work=GMA News}}</ref>

===Creation of the Freeport Zone=== The Clark Air Base area, also known as the Clark Main Zone was declared a Freeport Zone and was separated from the special economic zone through Republic Act 9400 of 2007.<ref name="repa9400">{{Cite web |date=March 20, 2007 |title=Republic Act 9400 |url=https://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2007/ra_9400_2007.html |access-date=May 24, 2018 |publisher=Congress of the Philippines |archive-date=April 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415224709/https://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2007/ra_9400_2007.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Since then the Freeport Zone and the Clark Special Economic Zone were considered as separate areas but collectively they are occasionally referred to as the "Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone".

===Further reorganization=== In November 2018, the BCDA and the Clark Development Corporation grouped four developments within the CFEZ namely the Clark Freeport Zone, Clark Global City, Clark International Airport, and New Clark City as "districts" under one brand dubbed as "Clark: It Works. Like A Dream".<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Dizon |first=Romeo |date=November 27, 2018 |title=BCDA, CDC launch new Clark brand, identity |url=http://manilastandard.net/lgu/luzon/281569/bcda-cdc-launch-new-clark-brand-identity.html |access-date=November 27, 2018 |work=Manila Standard}}</ref> Six years later, it was announced that the planned central business district is set to rise in the area as Clark Central Business District and it will create more than 170,000 jobs.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 21, 2024 |title=BGC-type business district eyed in Pampanga with new highway project |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/regions/898227/bgc-type-business-district-eyed-in-pampanga-with-new-highway-project/story/ |access-date=August 26, 2024 |website=GMA News Online |language=en}}</ref>

==CDC Board of Directors== [[File:BOD Chairman Edgardo D. Pamintuan.jpg|border|thumb|295x295px|CDC chairman Edgardo Pamintuan Sr.]] The Clark Development Corporation (CDC) consists of a Board of Directors whose members are appointed by the President of the Philippines, based on the recommendations of the Governance Commission for Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations (GCG).<ref>{{Cite web |title=GOCC Profile - Integrated Corporate Reporting System |url=https://icrs.gcg.gov.ph/profiles/cdc/ |access-date=October 22, 2024 |website=icrs.gcg.gov.ph}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" style="line-height:1.20em; font-size:100%;" |+Members of the Clark Development Corporation<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clark Development Corporation |url=https://www.clark.com.ph/?Category=DIRECTORS |access-date=October 22, 2024 |website=www.clark.com.ph}}</ref> !Position !Name |- |'''Chairman''' of CDC | style="text-align:center;" |Edgardo Pamintuan Sr. |- |'''President''' and '''CEO''' of CDC | style="text-align:center;" |Agnes VST Devanadera |- | rowspan="9" |Members of the Board of Directors | style="text-align:center;" |Roberto Adorable Atendido |- | style="text-align:center;" |Helen Nicolette M. Henson-Hizon |- | style="text-align:center;" |Bryan Matthew Nepomuceno |- | style="text-align:center;" |Paul Christian M. Cervantes |- | style="text-align:center;" |Jose Philip B. Panlilio |- | style="text-align:center;" |Maricris Carlos |- | style="text-align:center;" |Sharon Faye R. Malapitan-Bautista |- | style="text-align:center;" |Manuel Feliciano |- | style="text-align:center;" |Pablo de Borja |- ! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |Board officers |- |'''Corporate secretary / Board secretariat''' | style="text-align:center;" |Anna Gayle T. Barin |- |'''Corporate treasurer''' | style="text-align:center;" |Alizaido Paras |- |'''Acting compliance officer''' | style="text-align:center;" | Gloria Victoria Taruc |- |}

== Districts == Since the reorganization in 2018, there are four districts in Clark.<ref name=":0" />

* Clark Freeport Zone * Clark International Airport * Clark Global City * New Clark City

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} {{Wikivoyage|Clark (Central Luzon)}} * [http://www.visitclark.com/ Clark Freeport Zone Website]

Category:Politics of Pampanga Category:Politics of Tarlac Category:Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone Category:Industrial parks in the Philippines Category:Free ports Category:Tarlac Category:Angeles City Category:Mabalacat Category:PEZA special economic zones Category:1993 establishments in the Philippines