Sta. Ana used to be a quaint and sleepy coastal town famous for its pristine and white sand beaches and giant narra trees.
A few tourists and traders had frequented the town, 640 kilometers north of Manila, because of the quality seafood caught near the coastline that straddles Pacific Ocean and South China Sea at the northeastern tip of Luzon.
Game fishing in the area had also attracted the moneyed people aboard their expensive yachts.
The town’s serenity, however, was disturbed in July last year when a commercial ship docked at Port Irene and unloaded more than 200 vans and cars. The ship returned every 45 days, said Jonathan Bascol, a salesman from one of the eight locators at the 54,119-hectare Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport.
In a few months, Sta. Ana has transformed itself into a haven for imported used cars, giving Subic in Central Luzon a run for its money. One can still buy fresh yellow fin tuna in this town for only P50 a kilo. He can as well purchase a Mitsubishi Pajero for only P350,000 here.
Sta. Ana is fast emerging as the new Subic mainly because of its strategic port named after the second daughter of the late President Ferdinand Marcos. Port Irene, the hub of activities of the free port zone, is now an entry point for slightly used cars imported mostly from Japan. As a free port, it operates a separate customs territory similar to Hong Kong, Singapore, Labuan in Malaysia and Hamburg in Germany.
The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority operates the free port, the brainchild of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, who was born in the province.
Most of the zone’s locators are car importers and dealers who used to operate in Subic. The Ceza management said vehicles unloaded in Port Irene are legally imported into the Philippines.
The Supreme Court in February, however, effectively banned duty-free importation of used cars into the country, except in Subic.
But imported cars, according to the Ceza, are slapped with a 100 percent duty, which effectively doubles their cost. The Bureau of Customs, which runs an office at CEZA, collects the duties here.
A vehicle’s cost increases by P50,000, representing the shipping fee per unit, and by another P10,000 for the cost of converting the vehicle from right-hand to left-hand drive, which is the norm in the Philippines.
Despite the high duty and conversion costs, buyers can still bring home a Mitsubishi Pajero 2.5 from Port Irene for only P350,000. The selling price for a slightly used Toyota Lucida is P250,000 and is negotiable.
A Toyota Hi-Ace 21 sells for only P280,000; Nissan Serena, P240,000; Mitsubishi Delica, P250,000; Mitsubishi Spacegear 2.5, P300,000; Isuzu Bighorn, P440,000; and Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8, P550,000.
Importers, according to sources, scout for slightly used cars in Japan, where owners replace their units cars after a few years.
At Port Irene, buyers from as far as Metro Manila, Ilocos and Isabela spend a day or two negotiating for the price of the car.
Some buyers are actually traders or dealers in the business of reselling the vehicles in Metro Manila for a bigger price, earning as much as P50,000 per unit in the process.
A source said many used cars had been brought into the country through Port Irene, prompting one locator to open a store for spare parts and accessories. Buyers of imported vehicles will find it handy if a shop is nearby to offer parts and accessories.
Residents of Sta. Ana, a fifth class municipality until the free port was established in 1995, said new economic activities in Port Irene had created jobs.
“This is a good opportunity for local residents. New jobs, new business opportunities were created,” said Cesar Bumanglag, a former farmer who now works as a welder for one of the locators.
He said former fishers, loggers and farmers have been recruited to the port to work as welders, technicians, guards and drivers. More than 600 families live around the economic zone and free port.
A driver, for instance, can earn as much as P5,000 for driving the imported used car to the home of a buyer in Metro Manila.
Bumanglag said with the frequent visits of car buyers and dealers here, tourism has also received a boost.
President Fidel Ramos signed into law Republic Act No. 7922, or the Ceza charter, on Feb. 24, 1995.
The law established a self-sustaining industrial, commercial, investment and tourism center and free port covering an area of more than 54,000 hectares in the towns of Sta. Ana and the nearby islands of Fuga, Barit and Mabbag covered by the town of Aparri.
The Ceza management plans to expand the port to accommodate larger vessels and improve an airstrip located just five minutes from the port.
Port Irene is a 45-minute flight from Kaoshiung, the prime industrial and shipping center of Taiwan. Ceza said Taiwanese investors had visited the area for investment opportunities.
Ceza offers fiscal incentives such as four to six-year income tax holiday, tax and duty-free importation of capital equipment, a special tax rate of 5 percent of gross income in lieu of all local and national taxes, tax credits for foreign corporations and effective zero-rating for articles admitted to the zone from the customs territory under proper permit.
