Zubiri warned SBMA, Hanjin of possible contamination; to hear resettlement issues

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri warned yesterday that the SBMA may be subject of a class suit by Koreans in the future . "We may be giving them land today to build condominiums but because this site is a former ammunition dump with toxic contaminants we are instead exposing them to carcinogenic chemicals."

"We want to know how Hanjin cleared and "cleaned" the area to make it fit for human habitation." Senators Zubiri, Pia Cayetano and Richard Gordon conducted an ocular inspection and hearing on the Hanjin apartment complex in Subic .

Zubiri recommended that the SBMA order the HHIC "to build a permanent concrete fence to assure us that there will be no more Hanjin intrusions or expansions into the nearby forest."

He demanded assurance from the SBMA that after the hearing the HHIC would be "warned not to add fast food outlets, malls, movie houses and other concrete developments in the site."

Zubiri reminded SBMA that they were tasked to "protect, maintain and develop virgin forests within the baselands as provided for in R.A 7227 or the Bases Conversion Development Act of 1992. The NIPAS Act also served to strengthen the mandate."

Zubiri will likewise schedule hearings on the resettlement projects undertaken by the HHIC and their contractors. "Fishing folk who were displaced by Hanjin Shipbuilding project in Barangay "Agusuhin and Nagyantoc and transferred to the mountainous areas far from their source of livelihood.

This is a social justice issue that is also central to the housing and resettlement concerns of the Senate.