Protests fail to stop Korean shipyard

By Allan Macatuno - Inquirer

SUBIC, ZAMBALES—A South Korean shipping company on Tuesday proceeded with the groundbreaking ceremony for the country’s biggest shipyard facility here amid protests from village residents who refused to leave the project site.

Officials of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Ltd. and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) led the ceremony, which signaled the start of the shipyard’s construction.

Nam Ho Cho, Hanjin chair, said the construction of the facility showed the strong business ties between South Korea and the Philippines. The project is expected to provide at least 20,000 jobs for Filipino skilled workers.

Gov. Vicente Magsaysay said he was optimistic that the project would continue despite difficulties in clearing the area after villagers opted to stay and stop the demolition of their houses.

“We made it sure that the community in the project site would not be hostile to the Korean company,” Magsaysay said.

President Macapagal-Arroyo was scheduled to attend the ceremony, but she reportedly cancelled the engagement after learning that the construction site had not been cleared.

“It might have come to the President’s knowledge that the clearing operation had not been fully implemented in the area,” Magsaysay said, referring to Ms Arroyo’s absence.

But the governor assured officials of the South Korean firm that Ms Arroyo was supporting the project.

Residents in Sitio Agusuhin have continued to defy the clearing operations, claiming that Hanjin failed to give them just compensation and a proper relocation site.

At least 300 families will be displaced by the project.

Two persons, including a 5-year-old girl, were hurt on Saturday after they refused to leave their house while it was being demolished.

Lawyer Ramon Agregado, SBMA senior deputy administrator for support services, said the affected settlers here would be compensated and given jobs during the project’s construction.

Agregado urged settlers to leave their houses and transfer to a temporary evacuation site in the town.