Industrialism in Biñan and Santa Rosa

“The Industrial City of CALABARZON” - the City of Biñan, is located at the Province of Laguna and also accessible from Metro Manila via South Luzon Expressway (SLEX). Two years ago, Biñan was officially introduced and proclaimed as the 4^th city of the province of Laguna on the 5^th of February.In its very prompt state as a component city, Biñan has become both a suburban residential community of Metro Manila and served as perfect grounds of the Philippines’ largest industrial estates and export processing zones which includes two industrial parks namely; Laguna International Industrial Park (LIIP) and Laguna Technopark Incorporated (LTI) (shared by Biñan and Sta. Rosa). These two industrial parks created good image in contributing favorably in Biñan City as well as Philippine economy in terms of local employment and the generation of foreign exchange.

While, Santa Rosa City, known as the “Investment Capital of South Luzon” - is one of the fastest growing economies in the Philippines.Greenfield Development Corporation is where most Santa Rosa’s financial resources are concentrated that launched its flagship retail complex way back in 1997. Automobile manufacturers that have plants in Santa Rosa also add up to its economic growth which includes; (1) Nissan Motors Co., Ltd.; (2) Toyota Motor Corporation; (3) Honda Motor Co., Ltd., and Ford Motors and (4) Santa Rosa Motor Works.It is also the home of the Monde Nissin Corporation, which manufactures industry leader Lucky Me Noodles and Monde biscuits and the largest plant of The Coca-Cola Company in the Philippines, which is situated right across the Santa Rosa Exit of SLEX.

As shown below, Santa Rosa has a larger number of industries having 271 in variety while Biñan has only 210, which both gives livelihood and progress to both cities, as well. Santa Rosa had the first opportunity to prosper than Biñan City, not only for housing Enchanted Kingdom (the only theme park in the Philippines) and other multi-national companies, but also because they were the first one to embrace cityhood on July 10, 2004 as compared to Biñan which just declared its cityhood on February 10, 2010.

 In relation to their achievements and cityhood, I can say that Industrial parks and manufacturing corporations had a great contribution for giving them their state and the potential to be a center of industrialism for having a very fast economic growth within these years. It brought new concepts, more opportunities and innovation to the citizens of the said cities, as well.

INDUSTRIES	BIÑAN	STA. ROSA
Agriculture	1	2
Arts	0	1
Automobiles and Vehicles	12	13
Banking and Finance	28	38
Business	60	39
Community	2	9
Education	48	33
Employment	1	1
Entertainment	1	2
Food and Dining	20	39
Government	4	3
Health and Medicine	10	21
Professonal and Services	5	10
Real Estate	2	3
Shopping	13	42
Sports and Recreation	1	6
Travel and Tourism	2	9
TOTAL	210	271

Technoparks

                  Research park, science park, science and technology park, technopolis, industrial park, and business park. These are the types of science park which are composed of buildings and infrastractures, built for a common good - to resesarch and develop things from which the park's entities are engaged.

                    These parks offer a number of shared resources, such as uninterruptible power supply (UPS), tellecommunication hubs, reception and security, management offices, restaurants, bank offices, convention center, parking, internal transportation, entertainment and sports facilities, etc.

                     In this way, parks are encouraged by our local governments in order to attract new companies to towns, and to expand their tax base and employment opportunities to citizens.

Biñan City

             The City of Biñan –houses one of the first schooling of our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, and known for its native delicacies such as the famous rice cakes topped with cheese or butter,locally called and nationally acclaimed as “Puto Biñan”. Approved by the former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Biñan took off last February 6, 2009 to become a new component city of our country.

 At its very prompt state, the city has grown into an industrialized and well-developed community. It is comprised with two of the country’s largest industrial parks namely Laguna Technopark Inc. and Laguna International Industrial Park (LIIP) which covers local and foreign multinational companies that contributes to the economic growth of the city and to the country as well.

Together with my proponent Carl Matulac, we will focus about the plastic ban being brought up by our hometown to relieve problems such as flooding and waste management that is roughly to be resolved in time. Implemented by the City Mayor, Hon. Marlyn “Len” Alonte-Naguiat, Biñan City now has a Municipal Order No. -03 which showcases “Balik Basket, Balik Bayong Tayo” Ordinance that could probably halt the problem of my hometown which is actually inclined to flooding because of plastics which are usually disposed improperly wherein it could be recycled first in order to reuse it to prevent waste products. The ordinance implies that Biñanenses should be morally responsible enough in having a greener living through the use of organic products whenever they get to purchase goods from the market. Reusable bags such as totes, baskets, bayong orkatsa will do in roaming around the city while shopping especially in the public market. Oxo-biodegradable plastics are now specially produced to ease green purchasing in line with the ordinance. And in line with this, fast food chains, restaurants and shopping malls also gave their whole heart in helping in the achievement of the order through the alteration of the use of plastics to paper materials in their operations and also initialized the stoppage of the use of straw.

We came into thinking on finding ways on how we will study and finally encourage our community to cooperate with, by means of educating them on how plastics affects the environment and keeping them familiarize with the technicalities and the factors affecting the environment that they might not have been encountered yet. 

Are we on a sustainable path?

If ever I will be sent into future in disguise of a poor kid, these will be the possible words that I could utter: “Lucky are they to eat with a spoonful of rice and a viand of their choice, to have a privilege in going to school to learn things that are never been thought at home, to be accepted by their society from which they think they belong, to have a diverse ecosystem where they can still see animals under the shades of a clear blue sky, and a freedom for them to choose without such boundaries.” But as we see, everything changes so fast and it’s quite alarming to know that many of us are still unaware. We still have environmental issues to work out, economic crisis to solve and socio-political concerns to deal with, yet, are we on a sustainable path?

Based on the definition of United Nations Global Issues, sustainable development is a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. That is why we need to find ways to survive without entirely depleting the resources of the Earth. We need to explore more on about how to solve such issues in life through technological advancement. Centuries had passed already, some powerful men lived without having any apprehensions about what could they possibly contribute to the future, but still we have these resources and rich cultures because of their rational way of thinking. Their way of living is like a tip of survival from which we learned from. Their successions and critical way of living made way for us to grab these innovations in life.

 We, the people of 21^st century, are now responsible on how we will deal respect with the future generation by means of understanding the pathways for integration of sustainable development. We can still live with the same lifestyles that we have because it is a natural thing for us on how we survive for a living. But still, we should consider the three dimensions which include; (1) the viability between economic and environmental interests;(2) bearability between environmental and social elements;(3) and equity between social and economic elements in order for us to attain sustainability.

Pen Strokes

          Letters. Words. Phrases. Sentences. Paragraphs. Essay. Are these the only things found in a writer’s view? This may sound very typical to everyone but the innermost sense of these terms differs on how a writer executes his feelings toward a chosen subject.

I used to be a writer for our school paper way back in grade school. I was assigned in the Sports Column and at the same time managed to do the Editorial Cartooning. It was a great experience to be a part of a writing staff. It showed me different aspects of writing that life cannot capture, taught me to be more confident and responsible for my choice of words and encouraged me that I could do greater things using my mighty pen and paper.

                I find writing as an essential way of expressing some thoughts and ideas that one’s mind can’t work with by just explaining it through speech. Sometimes, I would find myself sitting on a so-called “silent sanctuary” holding a pen over a piece of paper. I then try to write along with my rigid pen strokes which seem to be somehow relaxing to me. I think that through writing, I can improve my ways of thinking, appreciating simple things and living in a creative manner.

Stepping inside the blogging industry is quite another mileage to take. I find it different from what I have used to -- no pen and paper, just a keyboard to type-in and an internet access to publish my blogs inside the cyber world. One problem that I might face is the lack of ideas to write likewise called as the “writer’s block”. It ends the mind of a writer to comply with its creative ideas and cut short ones mind in still. Maybe there is a big challenge for a newbie writer like me to find harmony in making things possible to find for fresh ideas to come up with. Thus, my working environment in particular will be one of the challenges in my nine-week span in my ENGLONE class. Another is the lack of motivation because sometimes it is hard to find meaning in writing when everything becomes unfamiliar. I find myself reading periodicals and short essays for me to be at ease with the words I least know.  Doing these things in the long run will surely strengthen my capabilities as an effective writer, perhaps.  

Excellent communication skills play a major part on becoming an effective writer. It enhances the capability of an individual to think beyond the limit. I guess, somehow, that a good writer is definitely a good communicator, too. Concise topic can lead every writer to a potential draft, and that rough draft to a ready-to-publish piece which also comes with boundless responsibilities. Letters and symbols don’t fill the gap between the writer and the reader alone, it’s the content which makes the readers get more interested to read and for the writer to become more confident in sharing ideas that others can’t fathom.