Press Release
January 24, 2009

Pia on Hanjin deaths probe: Senate should
not be blackmailed by Korean envoy

Opposition Senator Pia S. Cayetano has urged the Senate leadership not to allow itself to be cowered by a letter sent by Choi Joong-Kyung, Ambassador of the People's Republic of Korea to the Philippines, which warned the chamber of "substantial and negative repercussions" if it proceeds with its investigation into the rising deaths of Filipino workers at the shipyard of Korean investor Hanjin Heavy Industries Corporation-Philippines in Subic.

Cayetano issued the appeal to her colleagues following reports that another Filipino laborer, 19-year-old Raldon del Rosario, died Friday morning (Jan. 23) after an 800-kilogram metal door being installed at the shipyard's "Assembly Part 3" section fell on him. Another worker, Camalio Buchie, 24, reportedly suffered a leg injury during the incident.

Del Rosario is reportedly the 18th fatality among workers from traffic and work-related accidents at the job site since 2006, according to Hanjin's official count. But the People's Task Force Hanjin has recorded over 40 deaths among the workers, including those who have died from malaria.

"It's exasperating to see how our authorities have allowed these deaths to continue without imposing stringent measures and taking legal action against all those responsible on behalf of the victims," the lady senator said, as she scored the indifference being shown so far by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) towards the rising death toll at the shipyard.

"The Senate probe stands as our last chance for an independent inquiry. But I hope the Senate will not be bullied out of the Hanjin inquiry by the Korean ambassador. Otherwise, this concern may as well be elevated to the Interrnational Labor Organization."

In a privilege speech delivered only last January 21, the lady senator questioned the letter of South Korean Ambassador Joong-Kyung dated December 23, 2008, and addressed to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. She criticized the envoy's letter as foreign interference in the chamber's authority to conduct legislative inquiries.

"Mr. President, are we now to be told by a representative of a foreign country what we should and should not inquire into as a national law-making body, and even be threatened by 'deep and far reaching effects within and beyond the boundaries of the Philippines'?" Cayetano asked in her Jan. 21 speech.

"Is it not within our legislative power and function to ensure that sufficient laws are in place and complied with to protect our people and our environment from abuses? Is it not our duty, as lawmakers of the land, to look into violations and put in place measures to exact compliance?" she also said.

A portion of Joong-Kyung's letter read: "The tremendous political influence of the Senate means that its actions may have fatal effects to the existence of an actor in the private sector. The possibility that HHIC-Philippines (Hanjin Heavy Industries Corporation-Philippines) may be an object of a Senate inquiry could generate substantial and negative repercussions."

"..The policy implication of all its present actions have deep and far reaching effects within and beyond the boundaries of the Philippines," the letter added.

The ambassador's letter was sent to Enrile a few days after Cayetano delivered an earlier privilege speech in December last year, calling attention to the rising cases of deaths at the Hanjin shipyard.

Reacting to Cayetano's speech, Labor Committee Chair Senator Jinggoy Estrada indicated that he will schedule an inquiry when Congress resumes session in January. Senator Jamby Madrigal, Chair of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, also manifested that she'll conduct a hearing on environmental issues at the Subic Freeport, including the controversial hotel-casino project of another Korean investor, Grand Utopia, Inc., which will allegedly lead to the cutting of more than 300 trees.

News Latest News Feed