Tanza, Cavite May Soon Become a City--Thanks to the Newly-Created Cavite Gateway Terminal

“Hindi aabot ng limang taon, it is going to be a city (It will not take 5 years, it will become a city)."

This prediction was made by Governor Jesus Crispin Remulla during the inauguration of the Cavite Gateway Terminal (CGT) last Thursday, November 22.

Located at Km 41 Capipisa East, A. Soriano Highway, Tanza is the location of the CGT's Phase 1 project. It was strategically chosen for its nearby vicinity to many of the major economic zones in Cavite, such as the First Cavite Industrial Estate located in the cities of General Trias and Dasmariñas and the Cavite Export Processing Zone.

Tanza, according to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), fits the two main requirements for a municipality to be converted into a city.

The first requirement is that they should have a "contiguous territory of at least 100 square kilometers, as certified by the Land Management Bureau; or a population of not less than 150,000 inhabitants, as certified by the National Statistics Office.

Currently, Tanza has 41 barangays (villages), a land area of 28,296 hectares and a population of 305,607 in 2010.

The second requirement is that the municipality has a "locally generated average annual income, as certified by the Department of Finance, (of at least PHP100,000,000) for the last two consecutive years based on 2000 constant prices."

This can be now be made possible with the CGT located within the area.

According to Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade, aside from the terminal lessening the number of trucks plying in Metro Manila by 30 percent, the CGT can help facilitate the seaborn connectivity of containers between Cavite and other port facilities, allowing Cavite businesses to transport cargo not just in other Luzon ports, but also the Ports of Subic and Batangas.

Remulla added that opening the terminal would create an "influx of investors, more job opportunities, and more robust activity in the town."

"It is sure to attract more investors, and I am saying the big ones, with this offered ease and cost-effective conduct of business,” he said.