At least P20 billion in new investments is expected to flow into the country’s economic zones as the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) enforces stricter environmental standards.
PEZA director general Tereso Panga said around 40 manufacturing and agro-processing ecozones, roughly half of the 80 registered zones nationwide, must each invest a minimum of P500 million to build modern water infrastructure.
This includes a closed-loop system covering centralized water supply, wastewater treatment plants, pre-treatment facilities, and compliance with the latest effluent discharge and water reuse guidelines issued by regulators.
“These are not optional features anymore. Every ecozone developer must ensure that their sites have the capability to recycle, treat, and safely dispose of wastewater,” declared Panga. “ If a zone does not have a centralized system, it must connect directly to the local water district. Either way, water security and sustainability now come at a premium.”
The PEZA chief noted that agro-processing parks, which typically operate as stand-alone facilities, are required to integrate their plantations with processing plants and their own water treatment systems to avoid straining community water resources.
The investments, he added, will also open opportunities for engineering, construction, and utility providers.
“The water systems are capital-intensive, but they guarantee long-term sustainability. They also give investors confidence that operations will meet global environmental standards, which is now a deciding factor for many multinationals,” Panga pointed out..
Alongside the infrastructure upgrades, PEZA is advancing new ecozone proclamations for the proposed 4,000-hectare site in Palawan, which is part of a 28,000-hectare master plan.
The Palawan ecozone project and another in Oriental Mindoro are set for endorsement to Malacañang.
The 200,000-hectare property in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, is being considered for township ecozone development under a public-private partnership.
“Our strategy is to roll them out in packets of development. Agro-industrial firms may start with their own plantations and processing hubs, while PEZA will connect them later into a unified network with power and water infrastructure,” Panga said.
Calabarzon remains the country’s largest ecozone cluster, but the new projects in Palawan and Occidental Mindoro signal the administration’s push to spread agro-industrial development across underserved regions while embedding environmental safeguards in future industrial growth.
