Southeast Asia · Case study

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Environmental Stewardship in a Converted Naval Base and Port

Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Olongapo City and Subic, Philippines1992 to present

Subic was an American military facility for almost 90 years. It was turned over to the Philippines after the Philippine Senate rejected renewal of the 1947 Military Bases Agreement and the Mount Pinatubo eruption destroyed base facilities (SBMA, n.d.). The last US Navy ship sailed out of Subic Bay on November 24, 1992 (SBMA, n.d.). On March 13, 1992, the Philippine Congress passed Republic Act 7227, the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992, which created the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) to develop and manage the Freeport (SBMA, n.d.). The case shows how environmental duties can be written into the legal framework when a military port reaches the end of its original life and is converted to civilian use. It is a stewardship and conservation example rather than a measured habitat restoration project.

Approach

Protecting assets at handover. At handover, the Olongapo mayor and 8,000 volunteers took over the facility to preserve and protect property and facilities (SBMA, n.d.).

Conversion mandate in law. RA 7227 aims to accelerate the sound and balanced conversion of the Clark and Subic military reservations into alternative productive uses (Republic of the Philippines, 1992).

Environmental powers for the port authority. The law gives SBMA the power to protect the virgin forests within the baselands, to be proclaimed a national park under a permanent total log ban. It also gives SBMA the power to set pollution control measures and standards for all areas in its territory, including all bodies of water (Republic of the Philippines, 1992).

A dedicated environmental unit. The implementing rules require SBMA to create an Ecology Centre and to implement national environment rules (Republic of the Philippines, 1992). The Ecology Center handles enforcement, monitoring, permitting, training and education, and contingency and emergency planning (SBMA, n.d.).

Monitoring and conservation programs. A Protected Area Management Division monitors ambient water, bio-physical and air quality within the Freeport. Programs include reforestation, a tree nursery, sea turtle and giant clam programs, and mangrove conservation. The center employs indigenous people from local tribes and draws on their indigenous knowledge (SBMA, n.d.).

Results

The former naval base now operates as a commercial port with a container terminal and 15 operational piers and wharves, handling cruise ships, fertilizers, grains and containerized cargo (SBMA, n.d.). SBMA runs a standing Ecology Center with units for environmental quality management, permit processing, social development and protected area management (SBMA, n.d.). SBMA's public pages reviewed do not report quantified restoration outcomes.

Transferability

DMC ports that take over or convert military, naval or other decommissioned port land can use the Subic model of writing environmental duties into the conversion law itself. Useful elements are protecting existing assets at handover, giving the new port authority clear powers over forests, pollution and water bodies, and setting up a permanent environmental unit that permits, monitors and enforces within the zone. Involving indigenous and local communities in conservation work is also transferable. Ports should add quantified targets and public reporting, which the Subic record lacks.

Sources

All information used for this case study was based on publicly available resources.