The Bataan Economic Zone
Mariveles was then referred to as a war-torn small fishing village of 5,000 people who subsist from their farm harvest and catch from the sea.
In the 1960’s, the Philippine Government made a remarkable step toward investment planning to attract foreign investments into the country.
Many factors were considered in deciding the site. When it was suggested that Bataan Province was a likely spot for the Philippine debut in the field, businessmen were really not convinced. Bataan was too far from Manila and harbored only a village backed by mountains and muddy tracks.
But it was done. With the determination and proper representations made by the late Congressman Pablo Roman of Bataan and the declaration of Martial Law in September 1972; former Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 66, creating the Export Processing Zone Authority, the forerunner of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority or the PEZA today. The site chosen was Mariveles, Bataan.
Since then, remarkable progress took place at the Bataan Export Processing Zone, the first and premiere economic zone in the country, now called the Bataan Economic Zone.
A former 1,200 hectares barren jungle is now transformed into a modern industrial complex with more than 60 multinational companies manufacturing products for the World and providing employment to more than 25,000 Filipinos.
The Petrochemical Development Corporporation
The nominal entry of new investors in the country, in the 1990’s, while reflective of the global economic downtown, nonetheless brought another giant investment in Mariveles.
The Philippine National Oil Company – Petrochemical Development Corporation (PNOC-PDC), a multi-million dollar project, came in as the biggest single investment in 1993.
Sprawled on a 530-hectare land along the coastal area at Brgy. Batangas Dos, PNOC-PDC operated and developed the area as a petrochemical industrial estate, and established thereat petrochemical and related industries either by itself or in joint venture with private investors. Today, there are five companies operating within the complex employing some 2000 Filipino workers.
Plastic City
The following year, Diversified Plastic Film, a petrochemical downstream industry established its plant at Brgy. Alion. Now, on its expansion phase, it is expected to become a plastic city and has a projected employment of 5,000 workers in the next five years.
