Thursday, April 24, 2008 Villanueva town residents face eviction By Lovely Ayn Boluhan Xavier University Intern
DESPAIR and hopelessness were evident on the faces of residents of barangays Tambobong and Balacanas in Villanueva town who are facing eviction to make way for the construction of the shipyard facility of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Company.
An elderly woman wept openly at the public consultation held by representatives of Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corporation (Phividec), Hanjin and various government agencies in Barangay Balacanas in Villanueva town Wednesday.
Plans for the $2-billion shipyard dubbed by Hanjin as the fourth largest in the world will have a huge social cost as barangays Tambobong, Balacanas and parts of Barangay San Martin in Tagoloan town will be torn down to make way for the facility.
Hanjin and government agencies promised that the shipyard facility will employ 45,000 people engineers, welders, fabricators, and administrative personnel within the next three years.
Around 6,000 residents in Barangay Tambobong and hundreds more from Balacanas and San Martin will be affected -- they who lived in these coastal villages for generations.
Phivedec promised the affected residents a relocation site in Barangay Katipunan in Villanueva near the mountains.
But the residents are outraged.
"We admit that the lands where our houses are standing are not ours. We are just occupants here. But what we only ask is the assurance that we will be justly compensated with the cost of building our houses, including the crops that we've planted," Tambobong Barangay Chair Delilah Abellanosa said.
Boy Pactura, a resident of Barangay Balacanas questioned why the consultations came only after bulldozers have already started tearing down their houses.
"Murag gilupigan ang among barangay sa pag-asa sa Hanjin (It seems that Hanjin has robbed off our barangay our hope)," Pactura said.
A woman said Hanjin's claims that many of the affected residents will be hired are untrue. She said only 10 residents of Balacanas were sent to training by the Korean company.
"Klaro kini na pag-pandaogdaog (This is already obvious tyranny)," a town official said.
Many of the residents from barangays Tambobong ang Balacanas were hopeless since they did not own the land the tilled for years.
Dr. Mario Sumalinog of the MJ Consultancy Firm said the construction of the shipyard had already been approved by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Elfredo Resma, a Phividec representative, said each of the affected residents will be given P15,000 assistance as well as the relocation site.
Bong Rubic, a Hanjin representative, said the shipyard facility will cover some 441 hectares at the Phividec Industrial Estate in Villanueva and Tagoloan towns.
He said the shipyard will put the Philippines on the map after South Korea, Japan and China.
"This project is very labor intensive. This will even benefit the tourism industry," he said.
