[ Manila Bulletin Online ] April 11, 2008
By HANNAH L. TORREGOZA
Sen. Richard Gordon yesterday said he does not find fault in the construction of the 22-story condominium project of South Korea’s Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp. in Subic, thus, there is no need to stop the project.
In a press conference, Gordon claimed that Hanjin had not committed any violation when it started the construction of the two high-rise buildings within the free port’s protected forest area.
Gordon said based on his research and the pictures he has of the place, the condo site was already cleared before the Korean firm started constructing, the place having been a former weapons and artillery storage area of the United States military in 1991.
"I can’t see anything wrong with its construction. There was no violation, no trees being cut. Legally and environmentally, wala akong makitang mali," Gordon said.
But Gordon said he would support a Senate inquiry and an inspection on the said condominium construction and the two multi-billion peso shipyard projects of Hanjin in the country.
Gordon said he is in favor of a legislative investigation of the place to ascertain whether Hanjin is liable of other violations.
But Gordon said the government needs to tread carefully on the issue because "Hanjin is the biggest investor in the country today."
"The Philippines will become the third biggest shipbuilder in the world with the help of Hanjin," he said.
He said that even with this present issue hounding the Korean firm, the government needs to be consistent in addressing other environmental issues, such as oil spills, or risk disparagement from the Koreans.
"My appeal is for us to be consistent for the environment. Kung hindi tutuyain tayo ng mga Koreano," he said.
However, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. believes that a Senate investigation on the issue would bring to light whether the construction was really legal as Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and Hanjin had claimed.
Pimentel said that if the project is within a protected forest area, it should be aborted because it sends a bad message that the housing needs of investors take priority over the need to protect remaining forests.
"The SBMA’s cockiness on the issue may have been due to Malacanang’s support for Hanjin’s projects in the country," Pimentel said.
Pimentel also criticized SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza for saying that they will not back down from the construction of the condominium.
"I admire 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," he said.
Arreza explains South Korean project in Subic
By BEN R. ROSARIO
Administrator Armand Arreza of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority yesterday admitted that several other business enterprises have built structures near the protected rainforest at the former US naval facility in Zambales but none of them, including the Korean firm, Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction, have violated strict rules for the protection of the environment.
To prove his point, Arreza showed journalists photographs indicating that the site was used by the US Navy since 1968.
"Business entities can avail of the site provided they passed the environmental impact assessment (EIS) and are issued the environmental clearance certificate (ECC) which Hanjin was able to secure," Arreza said.
Arreza showed up in a news forum in Quezon City yesterday to inform Metro Manila-based newsmen that Hanjin and other firms have not violated any environmental issue as claimed by several administration and opposition senators.
Senators known to be advocates of environmental protection issues have sought a legislative inquiry into allegations that Hanjin had cleared a portion of the rainforest at the Subic Freeport to give way to a multi-level, 184-unit apartment project.
Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri and Loren Legarda have issued separate statements chiding the SBMA and Hanjin for the alleged destruction of the one of the country’s remaining rainforests.
Arreza countered that contrary to reports published in a national daily, Hanjin did not clear a portion of the rain forest, adding that the area had already been cleared even before their construction project commenced.
"Although Hanjin’s apartment project is inside the rain forest, it is located within the area allotted for sustainable development having been cleared before by the US Navy when Subic still housed the US Naval Base and by some business entities which have used the area before Hanjin," Arreza said at the Usaping Balita News Forum at Serye Cafe, Quezon City.
The SBMA chief noted that aside from the apartment project, the site offers other uses for recreation and industrial purposes.
Aside from Hanjin, other business enterprises located in the vicinity or which have used the area are: Acom Manufacturing (a supplier of (Acer) from 1996 – 2001; W Star (warehousing of licquor) from 2001 to present; Polar Marine (assembly of tank cleaning equipment for ships) from 1996 to present; and Subic Apex Sales, Inc. (motor vehicle trading company) from 2000 to 2006 prior to lease by Hanjin.
Arreza vowed to demand the revocation of the ECC of these business enterprises if investigation would prove that they failed to comply with the provisions of the permit.
Meanwhile, two congressmen representing districts covered by the Subic Freeport assailed alleged plans of government critics to use the Hanjin issue as part of anti-Arroyo propaganda.
Reps. Mitos Magsaysay (Lakas, Zambales) and Albert Garcia (Kampi, Bataan) described the controversy involving the project "as one of the best examples of how politics have been ruining the country, particularly the economy."
Magsaysay warned that the unwanted propaganda could be a major turn-off to the country’s investment climate.
"The very shrill protests of non-Subic residents over the Hanjin condos borders on OA (overacting). From their statements, one would get the impression that the project would cause the end of civilization," Magsaysay said.
She noted that one public official even exaggerated the issue by painting a "doomsday scenario" that the project would hasten global warming."They made a conclusion which no scientist and not even Al Gore have reached : that the project would hasten global warming, as if two buildings in a small patch of logged over land have stretched wide the ozone hole," Magsaysay said.
Magsaysay, whose husband, J.V. Magsaysay was a former SBMA official, chided politicians and environmentalists for raising a howl over the construction project without determining the truth about their allegations.
"The image that has been seared in the public mind is that a whole forest was sacrificed when, in fact, this was not the case," she said.
Sharing the same observation, Garcia noted that even if Hanjin had, indeed, cleared three hectares of rainforests, the firm could be forgiven for pouring into the country over P200 billion worth of investments and for creating 20,000 jobs for Filipinos, in the process.
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