Solons clear Hanjin project of environment law breach

By Ayen Infante

05/01/2008

Senators who investigated the apartment complex being built by Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp.-Philippines at a forested area in the Subic Freeport zone cited legal technicalities in the construction of the project but eventually conceded that the $20-million project did not violate environmental laws.

Sen. Pia Cayetano, chairperson of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, led an on-site committee hearing at the Formosa Hall in the Subic Gateway Park after inspecting the condominium project with Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, chairman of the committee on urban planning, housing and resettlement.

They were joined at the public hearing by Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the committee on government corporations and public enterprises, and Reps. Herminia Roman (Bataan) and Carissa Coscolluela (Buhay Partylist).

Cayetano said the Senate hearing was brought to Subic, primarily, to inspect the project and determine whether the condominium construction violated any environmental law.

“This case is a big deal because the (project site) is in a protected area. We have to come down to Subic to personally see the area,” Cayetano told reporters.

Cayetano and Zubiri were accompanied in the site inspection by Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman Feliciano Salonga, SBMA administrator Armand Arreza and engineer Dong Kim, Hanjin’s project chief engineer.

The two SBMA officials were also invited to the public hearing, along with Undersecretary Manuel Gerochi of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and SBMA Ecology Center manager Amethya dela Llana-Koval.

Several groups from the Subic Bay community were also present in the hearing.

In the hearing that followed the inspection, Gordon and Zubiri expressed belief that the SBMA did not violate any law in approving the Hanjin apartment project, but suggested that no other project of the same nature should be constructed within or near Subic’s forested areas.

“For me, SBMA did not violate any law and I believe in your good intention,” Gordon told SBMA officials. “But please don’t allow another one anymore,” he said.

“There is nothing we can do now, but make sure that all mitigation measures should be put in place to protect the environment and the people,” Zubiri said.

Gordon also commended the SBMA for being open to inquiries involving the controversial project.

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