THE president of Bauertek Corporation dubbed the occasion as “history in the making” as a new facility broke ground for the building of an extension at the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in Munoz, Nueva Ecija.
Rigel Gomez, the company president welcomed the government officials, stakeholders and the public to the groundbreaking of an additional facility at the science city of Munoz, Nueva Ecija.
“On this ground will rise millions of revenues for the local government and millions of taxes for the national government,” Dr. Richard Nixon Gomez, announced during the groundbreaking ceremony for the P2.75 billion facility on Nov. 13.
Like Bauertek Corporation, the new edifices can produce medicines from various herbs, medical cannabis or marijuana extract once Congress approves the legalization of its use. Advocates and supporters have been pushing for this for over a decade now.
In the same occasion, Bauertek Corporation and CLSU signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) led by the latter’s president, Dr. Edgar A. Orden, together with Dr. Ariel G. Mactal, VP for Business Affairs and for Bauertek, Mr. Rigel Gomez, its president and Mr. Richard Nixon C. Gomez, general manager.
This will be a long-term partnership between the two companies with focus on fostering research and development in the field of herbal supplements. It will provide CLSU students and faculty with opportunities for hands-on training and exposure to industry standards and practices.
Mayor Armi Alvarez of Munoz, who is a nurse by profession, thanked the forging of MOA between the two organizations as it would generate jobs for the locals, aside from the farmers, scientists and researchers.
The new facility will have cultivation, processing, extraction, manufacturing, development and research centers. The elder Gomez, father of Rigel, said around P4-billion can be generated by the national government from taxes and part of this will go to the local government.
The new multi-billion world-class and state of the art facility, is the first and only one of its kind in the whole of Southeast Asia.
Dr. Gomez said, he expects to have the new facility finished by 2026. He explained that the establishment was made possible with the help of the Dept. of Science and Technology (DOST) Business Innovation through Science and Technology (BIST).
As to the status of the legalization of medical cannabis before the Senate and Congress, the 10 bills are expected to be filtered and refined by the technical working group, where they are now, before they would be passed to the plenary hall for approval.
“I know it will be legalized and it is just a matter of time,” said Dr. Gomez. Others present at the groundbreaking ceremony were DOST Central Luzon regional director, Dr. Julius Caesar Sicat, Filipino Inventors Society (FIS), Publishers Association of the Philippines Inc. (PAPI) national president, Nelson Santos; John Thomas, among others.
