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Condo units in ’recreational’ area — SBMA

Vol. XXI, No. 178 [ Business World Online ]
Friday, April 11, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES

Height below ceiling set by air transport body

PENDING a formal Senate probe, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) yesterday claimed that a housing project within a protected site was above board and that they have identified the area as "recreational."

At a press conference in a Quezon City hotel, SBMA Administrator Armand C. Arreza said Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Ltd. met all environmental compliance requirements before it started building two high-rise condominiums to house its workers.

"There’s no ambiguity there [and] nothing arbitrary," he said, adding that an "environmental assessment" was conducted on the area.

The assessment, however, was done only by the SBMA Ecology department and so-called independent consultants hired by Hanjin.

Mr. Arreza said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources "recognizes our [SBMA] power to issue environmental compliance certificates" based on an agreement signed in 2006.

Under Proclamation 926 signed in 1992 by President Corazon C. Aquino, the sale, entry, settlement, exploitation, exploration, and other forms of disposition in the area are not allowed.

While the area was not designated by the SBMA as environmentally critical and has been allowed to host a property development, Mr. Arreza maintained that there were "no grounds" for terminating the project.

The construction of the 22-and 12-storey towers started last July and is expected to be completed in June, Mr. Arreza said in a telephone interview.

The three-hectare site inside the 10,000-hectare Subic Watershed Forest Reserve was leased for 50 years at $37 (P1,544 at P41.73:$1) per square meter.

Mr. Arreza said the height of the buildings is only 82.5 meters, short of the 150-meter ceiling set by the Air Transportation Office.

Change of heart

Administration ally Senator Richard J. Gordon, who earlier opposed the project, told reporters in the weekly "Kapihan sa Senado" yesterday there were "no trees cut" and there were no legal violations when he visited the area last week.

The site, formerly used by the United States Navy for storing underwater weapons and ammunition, was cleared by the US forces in the 1960s, said Mr. Gordon, a former SBMA administrator and its founding chairman.

Mr. Gordon said, "What will we do here, there is no violation [of laws]? If we tell them, ’Remove the building,’ what is your basis?"

Administration ally Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri on Tuesday filed Resolution 341 that directed the committees on urban development, housing and resettlement, environment and natural resources, and economic affairs to conduct an inquiry on how Hanjin obtained environmental compliance certificates to construct two condominium buildings worth $20 million.

Trial by publicity

On Wednesday, Korean Chamber of Commerce-Philippines, Inc. President Jae J. Jang raised concern over the "seeming trial by publicity of Hanjin, undertaken without due process and protection."

"If the underlying issue has always been environmental protection, then any issues regarding the construction should have been raised at the onset of the building activities, not towards its conclusion," Mr. Jang said.

He added once completed the project will generate 10,000 job. He added the total investment of Hanjin in Subic was $1.65 billion.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. said in a statement, "I admire Administrator Arreza’s tenacity in defending the project. But he should remember that among others, he may be responsible for possible violations of the law over the project not everything that is legal is right."

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Executive Order 701 in January that directed all heads of departments, bureaus, offices and agencies to support the investment projects of Hanjin. — Bernard U. Allauigan

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