Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

This is the Subic in my mind: rolling green mountains, misty rainforests, and the shimmering sea.  The Subic of my childhood is a gate to an unknown, mystifying territory. In our old Ford, I always tried hard to peer through what was beyond the gates, at Cubi, even at the Main Entrance in Magsaysay Avenue in Olongapo City.  The personnel then looked like busy ant workers from afar.  The grey ships were properly docked at the bay and the American flag, its blues and reds bright in the sky, flew like a valiant pilot facing the gusty winds.

It was not too long ago that the Subic Naval Base was transformed into a freeport where all could roam freely. Like my mother, I grew up in this place where the servicemen prepared for military missions, and entertained after a hard day’s work and training. Today, the Subic Freeport is a bustling metropolis, a large-scale rest and recreational complex, and a growing economic and international trading zone.

With the presence of the newly opened Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), the proverbial landscape of the way to Subic had been made more picturesque, more exquisite. The vastness of the lands had been restored to farming after that massive volcanic eruption. In Pampanga, at least, you will think that you are on Eliot’s beautiful Waste Land, where there is no water but only rock.

A different, more vibrant Subic awaited us. We started the day roaming around, getting acquainted with the terrain and the sights. I personally thought I had seen enough of Subic, having lived in it all my life. Indeed, there’s really more where it comes from. Our journey started in the gates, and indeed, it was sort of a signpost to the beginning of an auspicious ride.

In the day, Subic is still kissed by greens. When you climb its hills, like in Binigtikan, the military and staff quarters have been turned into scenic, first class housing facilities. The base had been dramatically transformed. Even a part of its forest had been reinvented for adventure, thanks to the likes of Tree Top Adventure where one could enjoy rappelling and tree canopy walking.

Before I finally got the chance to see what’s inside the base, I already saw it in my mind as a perpetual tropical paradise, because my grandfather always talked about its rain forests, where he said monkeys walked the streets. When we drove around Subic recently, I remembered the first time I set sight on the roads at Pamulaklakin, embraced by foliage and thick greenery.

But there’s a lot more to Subic, and it’s quite unmistakable. Coming out of this forest where native Aetas thrive, and which closely resembles the forest in that fictional Macondo town of Garcia Marquez, we can rediscover Subic in a new light. Under the auspices of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), headed by administrator and chief executive officer Armand Arreza, himself a pioneer at the SBMA (fresh from college, he worked with the agency as a financial analyst), Subic Freeport continues to change day by day.