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SOUTH
Korean investors in the
Philippines
have warned that unfair “trial by publicity” against
Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Ltd. could
dampen foreign investors’ interest in the Philippines,
as the group maintained that the company did not violate
any local laws.
The
Korean Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (KCCP),
with 500 investor-members, said the publicity attack
against Hanjin over its construction of two condominium
buildings—apartments for its officers and
employees—inside the Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales is
sending negative signals to South Korean investors.
Jae J.
Jang, president of KCCP, said Hanjin’s project was
aboveboard and did not violate environmental laws as
claimed by many critics. He called on concerned
government agencies to initiate proper and unbiased
inquiries as Hanjin “is seriously considering an
investment” for a larger [shipbuilding facility] in
Mindanao.
“It is
highly uncalled for to say that Hanjin has disregarded
environmental laws by constructing the two condominium
buildings. As such, the KCCP condemns the reports which
have implied that Hanjin has had no regard for the
environment and calls for a balanced and objective
reporting,” said Jang in a statement on Wednesday.
On
Tuesday, the head of the Subic Bay Metropolitan
Authority (SBMA), Armand Arreza, defended the process by
which the project was examined before the environmental
permits were issued. Validating his point was the head
of the SBMA Ecology Center, Amethya dela Llana-Koval.
Both
officials said the area where the Hanjin buildings were
built had long been a cleared area, contrary to
impressions that virgin forest was destroyed to give way
to the condos.
They
said the areas were among those cleared by Americans
when they were still enjoying exclusive use of the
military bases.
Hanjin
is one of the major South Korean investors in the
Philippines and has poured in a total of $1.65 billion
in Subic construction projects that generated some
10,000 jobs for Filipinos, Jang said.
The KCCP
leader tagged Koreans as the biggest investors in the
Philippines in 2006, saying they poured in a total of
P56 billion that year.
But with
the attacks against Hanjin, he raised the question:
“Where a foreign investor complies with all the required
government processes and permits, and yet is made
vulnerable to attacks and accusations of lawbreaking,
who would dare to venture [into] an investment in the
Philippines?”
Jang
believes the apparent media campaign against Hanjin
“betrays the real situation” of the Philippine
investment climate which is that “the sanctity and
stability of contracts are not protected.”
Jang
said Hanjin invested in the Philippines upon the
invitation of the Philippine government. He said the
KCCP is “alarmed” that the company is now being tagged
“as a brazen violator of public order and is exposed to
unwarranted attacks and clouds of suspicion, without
proper verification.”
Jang
reiterated that the firm completed all the legal
requirements that include environmental compliance
certificates and construction and building permits for
the projects, as confirmed by SBMA officials.
“Hanjin
has never harmed or disturbed the environment of Subic
Bay. As admitted in the reports, the said construction
area has long been cleared of trees, even prior to the
construction of the two buildings,” he said. He
explained that the area had been used as the former
Subic Naval Base’s ammunition storage facility.
Jang
argued the issue should have been raised at the onset of
the construction if there was indeed violation of
environmental laws.
“We ask
the question: Why is the issue raised only now, when the
buildings are already 95-percent completed? If the
environmental implications of the construction are
pressing and urgent, why wait over a year before raising
it? The protests against it could have been raised from
day 1,” Jang said. |
