Tagoloan Mayor Paulino “Oloy” Emano
“Oloy says Korean exec insulted him, Villa Exec.”
Susan Palmes and Rene Abris
Tagoloan Mayor Paulino “Oloy” Emano may have lifted his cease and desist order against Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Corp. but he continues to talk tough against the firm which he claims insulted his people. Emano said he was unbothered by the prospects of losing the US$ 2 billion investment if it meant fighting for the rights of Tagoloanons.
Emano, whose brother Vicente, is an ex governor and whose nephew Yevgeny Vicente is a congressman, said dignity was more important.
“These people (Hanjin executives) are so arrogant,” Emano said. The Mayor cited an incident when he and Villanueva Mayor Juliette Uy were allegedly told by Hanjin resident manager in Manila: “You (sic) not needed here.” Emano identified the executive only as Mr. Choy. Emano said he merely held back because he did not want to jeopardize the hanjin project that would employ thousands of Filipinos in Misamis Oriental. He said he is willing to talk with Hanjin officials “but not Mr. Choy.” “the boss of Choy, not him,” Emano said.
But operating in Tagoloan without a government (permit) was too much, he said. Emano said he was forced to issue a cease and desist order because the Koreans did not show the town government a building plan and an environmental compliance certificate. Emano said he lifted the order because the President intervened.
“She asked me to lift the order. I could not refuse her,”
Emano said.
But he said he hoped Hanjin executives would “learn proper manners and respect Filipinos.” Emano also complained that Hanjin hired only a few Tagoloanons. Many of those hired were from Cagayan de Oro.
June 20, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Driving away big investors
Jose C. Sison
Philippine Star
Vigilance is truly necessary nowadays because of the rampant graft and corrupt practices committed in just about any deal or project where the government has a say one way or the other. The prevailing presumption is that in any multi-million peso/ dollar undertaking, dirty money changes hands; that government officials and/or powerful, influential persons are on the take. This mindset is caused by the administration itself because of the many perceived anomalies that have remained unresolved due to cover up attempts.
Unfortunately however this vigilance has sometimes been abused and converted into a political tool by the opposition especially in the legislative branch. The political opposition has acquired a predilection to investigate and always smells something fishy in any big ticket projects. The impression readily formed in the public mind is that they just also want to have a slice of the delicious pie.
This is so noticeable in the ongoing ruckus surrounding the ship building projects of the Korean firm Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Inc. (HHIC) in Subic, Zambales and Misamis Oriental.
Actually Hanjin has been doing development projects here since 1973. The press has not just focused on its company background. Hanjin then was known as Hanil Development Corporation. The company changed its name from Hanil to Hanjin only in 1994. This is the same company that has successfully completed numerous development projects in our country tremendously benefiting us now. In fact “Hanil” always rings a bell to me as the only foreign contractor that dared to operate in rebel infested areas and risking their valuable equipments thereby contributing to the significant country side economic development so vital in solving peace and order problems.
In Misamis Oriental itself where the company is now putting up a shipbuilding facility, it constructed the Iligan-Cagayan-Butuan Road in 1973 during those dangerous times of insurgency in Mindanao. Today that road is still cited as one of the country’s best highways. It is also the same company that successfully completed the Manila LRT (Light Rail Transit) Line 2 System, the Batangas Container Terminal and the Manila North Harbor Development.
The goodwill and reputation it has established here with the considerable number of development projects it has successfully completed somehow raise doubts on the veracity and accuracy of the anomalies that it is now being accused of. The company cannot simply afford to risk its reputation by committing the alleged wrong doings attributed to it. The charges seem to have been blown out of proportion and given so much media hype so attractive to grandstanding Senators.
Of course if Hanjin has transgressed our laws, it should be investigated and held liable. But what is happening now is that because of too much publicity, the company has already been pictured as involved in a bribery/extortion on the construction of the shipbuilding facility Mindanao and in an environmental degradation for building its employees’ housing facilities allegedly in the heart of a dense forest in Subic.
Thus a mere meeting between Hanjin’s Project Manager and the Tagoloan and Villanueva Town Mayors in Mindanao has immediately been interpreted as an attempt to bribe the said town officials with a P400 million contract. What transpired in the meeting actually concerns the possibility of hiring local contractors in the hauling of aggregates on a competitive basis so as to help said contractors generate business. In fact the PNP has declared the matter closed with the submission of sworn statement by the parties involved that neither bribery nor extortion happened. In any case, this issue is better left for resolution by the prosecution and the courts rather than by the Senate especially because of the attendant publicity being generated.
On the other hand numerous articles have been published in various newspapers about the alleged irregularities in the construction of the apartment site of its employees in a forest area in Subic allegedly containing about three hundred or more trees. But as it turns out the site is more or less located in the same area previously used by the US Navy as an ammunition depot and later used as a depot or factory by two other locators. Without verifying first that only about 43 trees were cut, reckless accusations and finger pointing are already made.
Critics have also tried to harp on the premature start of the apartment construction before securing the DENR Environmental Clearance Certificate. They did not first find out that Hanjin’s investment in SBMA could not have been finalized without first providing accommodations to the Koreans who would supervise and train Filipino workers thereby prompting SBMA to give the go signal taking into consideration that the area was anyway already used by the US Navy and two other locators.
The point here is that if ever there are short cuts done or irregularities committed then let them be rectified to assure that our laws are complied with and our environment duly protected. But these steps can be done without too much publicity that may eventually result in driving away big time investors like Hanjin.
In building the Subic Shipyard facilities alone, Hanjin’s initial investment for Phases I and 2 amounts to US$1.6 billion. The shipyard has a capacity of 80,000 tons/year up to 550,000 tons capable of building large-scale vessels such as 12,000 TEU Container such that by year 2017 its sales would reach US$3.9 billion generating employment of about 30,000 at its peak.
The Mindanao shipbuilding facility on the other hand will generate income and employment also for 30,000 workers. Hanjin will most likely spend P4.6 billion a year during peak time. Labor constitutes 40% of shipbuilding cost that goes directly to the workers’ pockets. With the US$60 million price tag on the first vessel for example, around $24 million or P984 million would go to workers salaries. The lives of the people in Northern Mindanao would surely improve especially considering that said shipbuilding facility would generate more business and tourism.
Indeed the construction of these shipyards would put the Philippines on the list of countries with the largest facilities after Korea, Japan and China. The world will thus be taking notice of the Philippines as an investment option.
Let us not squander these opportunities by engaging again in politics and resorting to those useless and grandstanding investigations “in aid of legislation” that may drive away big time investors like Hanjin that has reportedly been repeatedly cited as the World’s Outstanding Shipbuilder.
June 20, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Emano is just one person compared to the thousands of jobs that were lost!!!!No wonder the Philippines is poor,prices of basic commodities will always increase in a country filled with people who do not care for future of their own nation.I have noticed that majority of Filipinos tend to idolize movie stars more….wake up Philippines!!!!!!