Pia: "No stopping Hanjin probe"

The Senate will not be deterred from getting to the bottom of reported violations of environmental regulations committed by Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Corp. in relation to its shipyard projects in Subic, Zambales and Misamis Oriental.

This was announced today by Senator Pia S. Cayetano, adding that the next public hearing will be held next week, by a joint panel composed of the relevant Senate committees.

The second hearing will discuss, among others, the Korean firm's alleged failure to comply with requirements for the issuance of an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for its 440-hectare shipyard in Misamis Oriental.

The hearing will also include Senate Resolution No.387, filed by Cayetano herself, which seeks to look into the possible environmental impact of the plan to divert some portions of the Tagoloan River to allow Hanjin to get filling materials like sand and gravel for constructing its shipyard project.

(Note: This aspect of the project was first mentioned in connection to the widely reported P400-million supply contract to extract sand and gravel that was offered by Hanjin project manager Guk Hun Choi to Tagoloan Mayor Paulino Emano, as Emano himself attested to have happened sometime in March 2008.)

The issue of displacement and relocation of coastal community residents affected by Hanjin's 354-hectare shipyard in Subic will also be taken up.

"The first joint hearing was able to establish how the SBMA (Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority) committed dereliction of duty in protecting the environment when it allowed the construction of Hanjin's two condominiums inside the protected Subic rainforest."

"Hanjin officials would still be invited to explain why it proceeded to build the condominiums in January last year, or six months before an ECC was issued for the project. They were given the opportunity to explain their side in our first hearing, but they didn't show up," she said, referring to the non-attendance of Hanjin President Jeong Sup Shim in the April 25 joint panel hearing held in Subic.

At the same time, Cayetano urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and local residents to keep a close watch on the Korean firm's construction activities in Misamis Oriental to prevent a repeat of its violations in Subic.

Cayetano's office inquired with the Northern Mindanao Regional Office of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) to verify reports that the Korean firm had yet to comply with a number of requirements needed for the issuance of an ECC for its 440-hectare shipyard project.

"Our inquiry confirmed that what Hanjin was able to secure from EMB as of April 28 were only the permit to put up fences and the ECC for its eight-hectare training center in Tagoloan."

"But we also found out Hanjin filed its application for an ECC for the 440 hectare shipyard project only last May 5 and has yet to submit an Environment Impact Statement (EIS), which is a basic requirement for the ECC issuance."

"Being a flagship project doesn't exempt the Hanjin shipyard from environmental regulations. In fact, the government must ensure that major projects like these should be strictly made to comply with the Environmental Impact System Law (PD No.1586) because of their bigger impact on the environment and communities surrounding it," she concluded.