Zubiri cites corruption, health concerns in Hanjin probe
As P18,000 for flagpole went missing, parents plant wood pole on the ground

Relocatees and refugees affected by the construction and expansion of the Hanjin shipyard in Subic have valid complaints on the state of the relocation sites, facilities and the disruption of their means of livelihood, said Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, chairman of the Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement.

Zubiri was apprised by displaced Subic residents on the anomalous state of disrepair of the supposedly newly-built houses, water tank and schoolbuildings, among others in Barrio Agusuhin. Zubiri was alarmed that these "were built without honest-to-goodness environmental assessment. Otherwise, those areas would not have been chosen and they would have been transferred to better environments."

He noted that human settlements "should not be located in danger zones which would cause the collapse of structures. The durability of the structures will also have to be ascertained. These on top of the depletion of P18 Million for the Agusuhin resettlement site should be investigated well."

Displaced families told Zubiri that disbursements were so anomalous that teachers and parents had to plant a wood pole on the ground with the disappearance of P17,968 which Hanjin allocated for what should have been a decent flagpole for the elementary school.

An ocular inspection conducted by Task Force Hanjin found that comfort rooms, water tanks, Living Christ and Baptist chapels, gate and marker, lavatory, basketball court, stage, teachers' quarters and around 20 classrooms were not yet built. Those that were built suffered from so many flaws such that teachers, parents and students refused to use them. Consequently, the Task Force filed cases against Subic Mayor Jeffrey Khong Hun and the Northbound Hardware General Merchandise. The complaints have forced Zambales Governor Amor Deloso to form Task Force Hanjin chaired by former Vice Governor Ramon Lacbain II.

Reports say a second relocation site is being handled by the Subic Bay Management Authority and Hanjin to avoid the problematic first resettlement site handled by the local government.

Another issue to be resolved is that communities affected by the operation and expansion of the $1.7 Billion Hanjin shipyard were resettled in Barrios Agusuhin and Nagyantoc in Cawag. Among many Subic coastal areas, Barrios Agusuhin and Nagyantoc were used by the US Navy's Special Warfare Department as training and target ranges for amphibious and gunnery practices such as air-to-surface bombing, ship gunfire, shore fire control practice and amphibious landing.

Zubiri wanted to know if steps were taken to assess the resettlement areas and to turn the same into habitable sites without further causing health problems. He recalled that only the site of Hanjin's inland drydocks were assessed by Halliburton for environmental toxic contaminants and unexploded ordnance. Barrio Nagyantoc was then called White Beach, Kinabucsan was Red Beach and Cawag was the Green Beach. Activities of the United States Navy had left unexploded ordnance and contaminants in the said areas.

In a letter last February, 117 member families of the Concerned Citizens of Sitio Agusuhin appealed that the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp. Philippines and the provincial and municipal governments of Subic, Zambales sign a Memorandum of Agreement on their requests, as follows: P800,000 for damaged houses, fishing equipment and crops and a disturbance fee of P300,000 for two years neglect since their displacement in April year 2006.

Zubiri stressed that his Committee will place great importance to "the assurance of decent means of livelihood as a highly desired objective of any resettlement." Most of the displaced residents were fishermen who have experienced dwindling catch as the area is now not suitable for aquatic life.

The Agusuhin coral reef had to be transferred by volunteer divers to a farther site. The affected residents then appealed for priority in hiring for jobs created by SBMA locators.

"The concerns for health and livelihood of the Filipino families deserve to be addressed. I fear that they will be dwarfed by the attention focused on the billions of dollars worth of Hanjin investment and hundreds of millions of pesos worth of bribery allegations," Zubiri said.

Hanjin had denied rumors of a planned pullout with Senate investigations on labor law violations in the Subic shipyard, bribery attempts in Mindanao and construction of 18- and 20-storey structures in Subic forested areas.