THE Philippine government should stop funding the operation of the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone (Apeco), since the so-called freeport zone has not been beneficial both for the government and the people of Aurora province.

Sen. Sergio “Serge” Osmeña 3rd, together with the affected residents of Casiguran, Aurora province on Tuesday moved to block the P353-million proposed 2013 budget of Apeco claiming that the government will continue to waste untold sums of public revenues if further allotment is given to the Freeport.

“It would be better if the government would not allot further funding to the Apeco. I will move to zero the budget of Apeco,” Osmeña told reporters in a press conference on Tuesday.

Apeco was established through a measure introduced by Rep. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara at the House of Representatives and Sen. Edgardo Angara at the Senate, which was signed on 2007.

Originally the proposal was for the establishment of a freezone covering 500 hectares of land, but the law was later amended converting it to a 12,923-ecozone with a promise to usher in a new era of economic progress and industrial development for Aurora province.

The government, according to Osmeña, so far has spent P2-billion for land acquisition, construction of highways, structures and airport but until now nothing is happening—it has failed to attract investors.

Too, the continuous expansion of the so called “white elephant” of Aurora, reportedly caused the displacement of hundreds of indigenous peoples in the Casiguran peninsula, far from the original purpose of the ecozone, which is to provide jobs to the residents in the area.

Osmeña also disclosed that the P200-million runway constructed by Apeco was also a waste of taxpayers’ money because commercial airline companies have refused to include the Casiguran on its flight list reportedly because there is no market in the area.

It was learned that only the chartered planes of the Senator Angara carrying prospective investors are the only planes that use the airstrip.

“Nobody is interested it is too far . . . but they keep on spending money,” he added.

Meanwhile affected residents and anti-Apeco advocates has called on President Benigno Aquino 3rd not to allot further funding for Apeco, since it has brought no benefits to the government and the marginalized sectors of the province.