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Special Economic Zones and Local and Indigenous Communities: Evaluating the Clark Special Economic Zone


Special economic zones (SEZs) are enclaves within a country’s boundaries where normal business rules and regulations are suspended and are more free market–oriented than prevailing modes. Utilizing the framework of enclave-type economies within the context of land grabs and contradictory government policies and laws, this paper examines SEZs’ concept and practice through industrial-manufacturing locators, as typified by the Clark SEZ in the Pampanga–Tarlac provinces. It encroaches on three rural villages long occupied by indigenous Ayta and lowland settler communities. Despite the government’s formal recognition of the Ayta community’s ancestral land rights via a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) covering thousands of hectares, the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) asserted authority over the area as part of its SEZ. It then entered into a skewed joint management agreement (JMA) with the tribal association that effectively gave the state-run corporation control over the awarded tribal lands. Other SEZ-related issues discussed include the lack of integration with local economies, human rights violations via land grabbing, displacement of agriculture, the prevalence of low-skilled labor, and foregone government revenues.


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