Ridiculous to see that as a missed opportunity.

 

It's easy to take a prudish view to overlook the ramifications if one just fixates on the arrival of U.S. Navy ships to equal more mamasans.

The Navy travels on it's stomach and needs food, emerging canning industries, ice cream production and increased local farming would provide those needs in the most impoverished province on the island. Commerce would also florish with tens of thousand sailor/Marines tourists.

Olangapo and Clark Airforce Base have evolved with vibrant economies. The b@st@rd children left behind are now judges, politicians, doctors and lawyers and overseas workers. Our wild seeds are now educated and bettering their land and dreaming big and making it so.

The Smart City could be one of those dreams.

shakey

 

So there you have it:

The Chinese sell you something you don't need then, when you can't afford to repay the loans due to the project not performing as planned, the Chinese take it all back and have a strategic base in the middle of the Philippines.

 

If all the Chinese are looking for is a base then much cheaper if they bought one of the unfinished highways in this area as they would make perfect landing strips.

 

The 174 project is different. My understanding is that the city will *not* be under any loan obligations. Any debt will be undertaken by the developer.

Waterfront property is very valuable. Essentially the city gives the nod to a developer to put in a little fill over the existing reef and viola instant wealth. The city gets 49% of the revenue. Much better than the zero revenue they are getting from the existing beachfront. The landowners along the boulevard will be very unhappy and will fund the resistance.

 

I'm guessing that the 49% the city will get is after the developer has deducted his costs (i.e. P23 Billion+ over the agreed amortisation period). The development costs alone are currently projected at over P13.2k per sq m - what happens if the rental/ownership capacity isn't fulfilled? For the developer to get a return on his investment he must have some guarantees from the city - IMO somebody needs to read and understand the small-print.

 

Yes, they kicked the Sri Lankan Navy out of the port and established their own (Chinese) Naval base there.