The Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), led by Chairman Pablo M. Gancayco and Administrator Emmanuel D. Pineda, proceeded as planned and successfully met with SpaceX Senior Manager for Government Affairs Rebecca Hunter and Starlink Market Access Director Ryan Goodnight Wednesday, 30 March 2022.
Bataan Governor Albert Garcia, Bataan 2nd District Representative Jose Enrique Garcia III, AFAB Deputy Administrator for Operations Alewijn Aidan Ong, AFAB Corporate Affairs Technical Officer Paul Robert Salapantan, iWave President and CEO Ramon Garcia Jr., and iWAR President and CEO Marco Antonio Urera also attended the said meeting.
The officials focused on how connectivity shall ultimately be a crucial element in realizing the plans of the Province of Bataan and the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) in the near future. SpaceX’s low latency high speed satellite service is a game changer for improving connectivity and spurring development in rural areas of the Philippines.
Aiming to become the initial area of operations for Starlink Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite Internet in the Philippines, the Bataan ecozone officials presented to SpaceX the performance history of the FAB that made it the country’s fastest growing freeport as well as the advantages of its registered enterprises. Furthermore, Gov. Garcia and Cong. Garcia discussed how Bataan is uniquely positioned to be the next area of growth and development in the country.