Content of the Open Letter From HHIC-Phils.

May 16, 2008

HON. JULIETTE T. UY

Mayor

Municipality of Villanueva

RE: HANJIN TRAINING ALLOWANCE CONTROVERSY

Warmest Greetings:

We received reports on the controversy regarding the P130.00 daily training allowance we are providing to our trainees who are upgrading their shipbuilding skills in Villanueva Gymnasium (Mindanao Training Center).

We are providing a P150.00 dailing training allowance to our trainees in our Subic Training Center and that is P20.00 higher than that which we are providing for our trainees in the Mindanao Training Center. The reason for the Discrepancy is solely based on the difference of cost living in Mindanao and Subic area.

We would like to make a formal statement that we have indeed been giving only the amount of P130.00 daily training allowance to our trainees in Mindanao Training Center and the same is being given directly to the trainees themselves, and that nobody else is getting any monetary benefit out of the said training allowance.

Sincerly yours,

(sgd) CHAN YONG PARK

Education Team Manager

Skills Development Center

Hanjin: The Untold Story
Ben Contreras (knock, Knock)
Goldstar Daily May, 12, 2008 Issue

HANJIN used to be Hanil, a South Korean construction firm known for its durable roads and highway stretching from Iligan to Butuan is a landmark of its achievement. It’s Korean-made.
A local politician claims to have gone to South Korea thrice allegedly to woo Hanjin to put their money in Misamis Oriental. Fact is, he went there to court a glass factory. “I’ve been courting Hanjin for more than 10 years and … said President Arroyo.
Hanjin has a ship-building facility in Subic. The need for a place where it could fabricate accessories and parts arose. When it found their existing area in Subic too small for the intended purpose, it sought the assistance of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. Peza then sought the assistance of Phividec.
Hanjin had wanted 1200 hectares but Phividec could only give 400 and before the agreement between the Korean Company and local governments of Tagoloan and Villanueva was signed, some of the local government officials were invited to Subic to observe their shipyard.
One of Hanjin’s important requests before agreeing to invest here is to put their company under Peza, under which law, the company would be exempted from taxes for eight years. This would enable Hanjin to recover a part of their investment faster.
Hanjin’s entry into the province drew support and great optimism from every sector of our society. It is expected to create employment, give new life to a sagging economy and other opportunities to make money. They brought in hundreds of heavy equipment and hundreds more to rent if made available. With its US$2-billion investment, Hanjin has put Mindanao in the world map.
Along the way, Hanjin encountered minor problems that were given negative publicity and went out of control. Then the news exploded like a bomb and caught everyone by surprise. Hanjin is withdrawing, bannered The Gold Star Daily. The other papers, including the Manila media, picked up the story.
We subsequently heard and read many stories. What stories did people talk about? A lot! We have one about the alleged attempt to bribe a mayor (later denied by the mayor himself). Another was about how a local government ordered Hanjin to stop its work and why t lifted the order so the firm could resume operations even without an environmental compliance certificate. Then there’s this story about how a town government charged the Koreans P 120 thousand a month for the use of its gym and other money-related stories.
You heard these aired incessantly over the radio. You heard politicians hurl ugly accusations against each other. And when you try to analyze it, you begin to ask yourself: Is there a conspiracy to destroy Mayor Oloy Emano and Juliette Uy?
The media has a responsibility to report the truth. If one resorts to character assassination without basis, certainly that is unfair. And anyone who is into it should be ashamed of himself or herself.
No, I am not pointing an accusing finger at any of my colleagues in the media. Neither am I saying that some are under the payroll of politicians. I am only admonishing them to be responsible and honest. Do not slap a person without reason and say “I’m sorry” and that’s it.

Going back to Hanjin , and like I said before, we have a law to follow. The mistake in Subic should not have been allowed to be repeated here. The Korean firm which abhors negative publicity should have been more prudent.
“But who needs who?” said Arroyo. Oloy Emano only wanted the Koreans to observe our laws by securing the ECC before doing anything. And because this project is too big to let go, Oloy gave them the hospitality and leniency typical of Filipinos by allowing them to do the clearing operation without ECC.
But the malicious eyes and minds see things differently.
Let’s not use the word “abuse.” The Koreans promised to get the ECC. Before securing one, they proceeded to build the training centers. “Wait a minute,” said Oloy Emano.
The Koreans wanted to construct the training centers without ECC and Oloy wouldn’t allow them. Oloy could be charged by DENR for breaking the law. So why blame Oloy for doing the right thing?
Oloy and Juliette have in many occasions argued on issues, but their personal and political relationship has been good, strong and beyond politics.
The controversies surrounding the Hanjin project have unwittingly centered in Oloy. “This is unfair,” said one politician. Juliette is also to blame.
Like Oloy, Juliet was peppered with malicious attacks and nasty stories. Not a few have allowed themselves to become willing tools of certain politicians in the conduct of character assassination against two mayors.
A bystander who happens to be a neighbor of Bong Rubic was hit by a stray bullet, accusing him of cornering the bulk size of the projected 44 thousand employees to be hired. Poor Rep. Rufus Rodriguez. He was just trying to help the deserving.

ben-contreras

What is happening right now with the Hanjin project located within the Phividec Industrial Estate in the Municipalities of Villanueva and Tagoloan, Province of Misamis Oriental is a continuing maneuver and power play by a group of individuals who would want to take, for themselves, the credit for the multi-faceted opportunities of growth and development now being afforded to these municipalities.

It will be remembered that a couple of months ago, before Hanjin had finally decided to locate their shipyard project in these two municipalities, the same group of individuals desperately tried to discredit the two municipalities by bloating an issue that these two LGU’s were allegedly blocking the US$2-billion shipyard project.

Their clear and apparent motive is to have this project be put up or built in their own backyard or in any other location where their influence would prevail. There were munificent offers made to Hanjin such as in the City of General Santos, in the Sarangani Province, in the Municipality of Balingasag in the same Province of Misamis Oriental and in the island of Camiguin.

Hanjin is a shipyard assembly that needs thousands of labor force. As conservatively estimated, the project will need about 15,000 to 20,000 workers during the construction phase and 30,000 to 40,000 workers when it is already operational. Obviously, this shipyard complex is a labor intensive project that every LGU wants to have. We know that this is the primary solution in addressing the ever growing unemployment problem in every locality. The consequent domino effects will surely be felt in the local economy wherein thousands of people will have the purchasing power and millions of taxes will be collected by the host municipalities after the expiration of the tax holidays.

When the news came that Hanjin will temporarily stop their operation due to permits and licenses, and some other concerns, such as the road right of way per letter addressed to Director Ninfa Along-Albania, the Administrator of Phividec Industrial Estate Authority, this group of individuals again took an adverse position after seeing the event as an opportunity for them to give a final blow and knock down the opportunities of the two municipalities. Moreover, this group consists of individuals who are masters of issue fabrication and manipulation.
They intentionally coined and circulated the word “withdrawal” of Hanjin instead of “temporary” stoppage of operation. At first, it seems that they had succeeded in their questionable intentions. Both the print and broadcast media have capitalized and sensationalized the fabricated issues in local and national scale.

As a consequence of the media manipulation and maneuvering, the mayors of Tagoloan and Villanueva became the victims of the power play. Mayor Paulino “Oloy” Emano of Tagoloan was allegedly accused of the Php 400 million bribery and extortion while Mayor Juliette T. Uy of Villanueva was falsely, but deliberately linked to the claimed cornering of the supply of steel.

An average person cannot help but ask, how could the Mayor of Tagoloan be possibly bribed of such amount when Hanjin is so careful in their dealings with the government in view of the ZTE deal scandal?

In his affidavit, Mayor “Oloy” Emano has cleared Hanjin from the allegations that it had offered him P400 million in contracts in exchange for special favors from the municipal government. That they are trying to link the lady mayor of Villanueva to an imaginary proposition of allegedly cornering the steel supply is a clear showing of the shallow minds behind the proposition, it being a fact that Hanjin is itself one of the major players in the steel industry in Korea and in the world.

We cannot understand why our public officials appear to be scrambling to make it appear that they are saving Hanjin from withdrawing its shipyard project in the two municipalities. It seems that they are convinced that Hanjin is really withdrawing its US$ 2-billion investment project when in truth and in fact there is just temporary stoppage of work pending full compliance of documentary requirements.

The former mayor of Cagayan de Oro, now the Vice Mayor of the city, Vicente “Dongkoy” Emano wants to go to Korea and will kneel down before them if necessary, just to convince the Koreans not to withdraw. His son, Congressman Yevgeny “Bambi” Emano of the 2nd district of Misamis Oriental, together with Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez (2nd District) and Camiguin Representative Pedro Romualdo wants to have an immediate investigation by the trade and ethics committees of the House of Representatives for the “sudden withdrawal of Hanjin”. The City Mayor of Iligan City, Lawrence Cruz has sturdily expressed support to such Congressional inquiry.

The City Mayor of Cagayan de Oro, Constantino “Tinnex” Jaraula, however, has different agenda in mind. He is offering to Hanjin the Bulua Market for “free” to become a temporary training Center like in the Municipality of Villanueva, the host municipality. The Governor of Misamis Oriental, Governor Oscar “Oca” Moreno has asked Malacañang to make him the head of the task force in convincing the Koreans not to withdraw.

It may seem that our public officials are acting upon the honest dictates of their offices and be the champion of their own cause in the process. On the other hand, they appear to be suspiciously acting as the culprits on the overall scenario. True or not, it is very evident that there is a conspiracy of vested interests among them. It may be deeply rooted in our culture, the crab mentality. The Koreans are just here to invest nothing more nothing less.

Official opinion of the Local Government Unit of Villanueva.

Republic of the Philippines
Province of Misamis Oriental

MUNICIPALITY OF VILLANUEVA

Press Release: May 12, 2008

“A continuing plot to discredit”

What is happening right now with the Hanjin project located within the Phividec Industrial Estate in the Municipalities of Villanueva and Tagoloan, Province of Misamis Oriental is a continuing maneuver and power play by a group of individuals who would want to take, for themselves, the credit for the multi-faceted opportunities of growth and development now being afforded to these municipalities.

It will be remembered that a couple of months ago, before Hanjin had finally decided to locate their shipyard project in these two municipalities, the same group of individuals desperately tried to discredit the two municipalities by bloating an issue that these two LGU’s were allegedly blocking the US$2-billion shipyard project.

Their clear and apparent motive is to have this project be put up or built in their own backyard or in any other location where their influence would prevail. There were munificent offers made to Hanjin such as in the City of General Santos, in the Sarangani Province, in the Municipality of Balingasag in the same Province of Misamis Oriental and in the island of Camiguin.

Hanjin is a shipyard assembly that needs thousands of labor force. As conservatively estimated, the project will need about 15,000 to 20,000 workers during the construction phase and 30,000 to 40,000 workers when it is already operational. Obviously, this shipyard complex is a labor intensive project that every LGU wants to have. We know that this is the primary solution in addressing the ever growing unemployment problem in every locality. The consequent domino effects will surely be felt in the local economy wherein thousands of people will have the purchasing power and millions of taxes will be collected by the host municipalities after the expiration of the tax holidays.

When the news came that Hanjin will temporarily stop their operation due to permits and licenses, and some other concerns, such as the road right of way per letter addressed to Director Ninfa Along-Albania, the Administrator of Phividec Industrial Estate Authority, this group of individuals again took an adverse position after seeing the event as an opportunity for them to give a final blow and knock down the opportunities of the two municipalities. Moreover, this group consists of individuals who are masters of issue fabrication and manipulation. They intentionally coined and circulated the word “withdrawal” of Hanjin instead of “temporary” stoppage of operation. At first, it seems that they had succeeded in their questionable intentions. Both the print and broadcast media have capitalized and sensationalized the fabricated issues in local and national scale.

As a consequence of the media manipulation and maneuvering, the mayors of Tagoloan and Villanueva became the victims of the power play. Mayor Paulino “Oloy” Emano of Tagoloan was allegedly accused of the Php 400 million bribery and extortion while Mayor Juliette T. Uy of Villanueva was falsely, but deliberately linked to the claimed cornering of the supply of steel.

An average person cannot help but ask, how could the Mayor of Tagoloan be possibly bribed of such amount when Hanjin is so careful in their dealings with the government in view of the ZTE deal scandal?

In his affidavit, Mayor “Oloy” Emano has cleared Hanjin from the allegations that it had offered him P400 million in contracts in exchange for special favors from the municipal government. That they are trying to link the lady mayor of Villanueva to an imaginary proposition of allegedly cornering the steel supply is a clear showing of the shallow minds behind the proposition, it being a fact that Hanjin is itself one of the major players in the steel industry in Korea and in the world.

We cannot understand why our public officials appear to be scrambling to make it appear that they are saving Hanjin from withdrawing its shipyard project in the two municipalities. It seems that they are convinced that Hanjin is really withdrawing its US$ 2-billion investment project when in truth and in fact there is just temporary stoppage of work pending full compliance of documentary requirements.

The former mayor of Cagayan de Oro, now the Vice Mayor of the city, Vicente “Dongkoy” Emano wants to go to Korea and will kneel down before them if necessary, just to convince the Koreans not to withdraw. His son, Congressman Yevgeny “Bambi” Emano of the 2nd district of Misamis Oriental, together with Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez (2nd District) and Camiguin Representative Pedro Romualdo wants to have an immediate investigation by the trade and ethics committees of the House of Representatives for the “sudden withdrawal of Hanjin”. The City Mayor of Iligan City, Lawrence Cruz has sturdily expressed support to such Congressional inquiry.

The City Mayor of Cagayan de Oro, Constantino “Tinnex” Jaraula, however, has different agenda in mind. He is offering to Hanjin the Bulua Market for “free” to become a temporary training Center like in the Municipality of Villanueva, the host municipality. The Governor of Misamis Oriental, Governor Oscar “Oca” Moreno has asked Malacañang to make him the head of the task force in convincing the Koreans not to withdraw.

It may seem that our public officials are acting upon the honest dictates of their offices and be the champion of their own cause in the process. On the other hand, they appear to be suspiciously acting as the culprits on the overall scenario. True or not, it is very evident that there is a conspiracy of vested interests among them. It may be deeply rooted in our culture, the crab mentality. The Koreans are just here to invest nothing more nothing less.

Official opinion of the Local Government Unit of Villanueva.