Henry Sy Jr. pulls out P6-B investment in Tarlac
Credit to Author: JERRY HERNANDEZ| Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2019 17:05:40 +0000
BAMBAN, Tarlac: The plan to put up a P6-billion cement factory here fizzled out after Big Boss Cement (BBC) decided to pull out its investment due to the residents’ resistance.
Mayor Antonio Feliciano revealed this during a gathering of municipal employees, saying that BBC factory owner Henry Sy Jr. caved in to the people’s refusal to host the cement factory in the town.
“A 6-billion-peso investment is what we are talking about here. It is not everyday that a small town like ours will have an opportunity like this,” Feliciano said.
“Imagine a single business locator putting up a big investment with us. But that’s all gone with the wind now,” he added.
Sy’s decision came after thousands of residents staged a series of protests, including a candle vigil against the factory, citing the risk it would pose to the environment and the health of residents, especially children.
Protests
Diane Figueroa, president of the Concerned Citizens of Bamban, led the protest against the operation of the factory in Sitio Panadakitan,
Barangay Dela Cruz, saying that they were not against progress, but putting the health of their children at risk and the environment in danger would push them to “go out and show our resistance.”
“Once that cement factory is established, the children of Bamban will suffer,” she said.
The area where the proposed 12-hectare cement factory was supposed to be built was once an irrigated rice field that was said to have been reclassified as an industrial zone.
Residents were also worried about the dangers the factory could pose to nearby agricultural areas and the risk it would pose to their health since the factory would be just about 300 meters from their residences.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources then announced it would hold a public consultation as a result of the series of protests.
Reports have it that there was no public consultation before the cement company was allowed to construct its facilities.
Politics?
But Feliciano is suspicious that the resistance was a product of political propaganda perpetrated by his opponents, although he did not name names.
“My political nemesis must be happy now because they won. They killed the plan due to their continuous mudslinging tactics,” he said.
“They must have thought they have hurt me because of the pullout scenario but no, they have hurt the poor people of Bamban,” Feliciano added.
He said with the P35-million annual taxes that would come from the BBC investment, more programs and projects could have been achieved for the benefit of the people.
Feliciano also recalled one of his conversations with Sy, claiming that the latter told him he wanted the town to keep up with the economic growth enjoyed by its neighbors.
“He (Sy) told me that while Bamban is sandwiched between Mabalacat City and the highly-anticipated New Clark City, he did not want our town to be left behind that is why he decided to invest here,” Feliciano said.
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