Sunday, May 18, 2008 LGU receives P13.5M to make way for Hanjin Shipyard By Ma. Cecilia Rodriguez
RESIDENTS of three barangays in Villanueva town, Misamis Oriental said Tuesday that the local government unit (LGU) received money from Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA) to allow Hanjin Heavy Industries Inc. to bulldoze their villages.
In a press conference, Tambobong barangay captain Delaila Abellanosa said Villanueva Mayor Juliette Uy received P13.5 million, allegedly as compensation money for the crops and properties destroyed in Hanjin's clearing operations to make way for its $2 billion shipyard.
Abellanosa presented a document to the media showing how the P13.5 million was divided among six persons, including the municipal engineer and a judge.
"Those who received money are not even residents of our barangay. Why did they receive this money? The families who were affected by the clearing operations should have received the compensation, not them," Abellanosa said in the dialect.
Jimmy Agcaoili, spokesperson of Mayor Uy admitted that the LGU received the money from PIA. "Under the memorandum of agreement with PIA, the money is in payment for the public properties destroyed as part of Hanjin's clearing operation, including health center, school and other public buildings," he said.
Members of the Balacanas-Tambobong-San Martin Workers Association (Batasanwa) said they were not consulted about the compensation to be given by PIA. They also claimed that the municipal LGU negotiated directly with PIA and Hanjin and left them blind.
Agcaoili denied this, saying they conducted a public consultation. Village officials, however, said they were not properly informed and that they never accepted the terms in the MOA.
"The municipal officials did not even honor the autonomy of the barangay. We should have been properly informed. According to the law, the barangay council should approve a resolution accepting a project within their jurisdiction. For the Hanjin shipyard, we never passed any resolution," said Abellanosa.
She said the document detailing the alleged P13 million payment was distributed to barangay officials on May 5 during a meeting with Mayor Uy. "Gi-sabaan pa ni-a akoa kay ngano man diay na dili ko maka-cooperate (She scolded me and questioned why I could not cooperate)," said Abellanosa.
The residents also complained that the bulldozing of their homes and crops were done without notice. "The bulldozers came at night. We could not do anything but watch our crops destroyed," said Eugene Payusan, a resident of Barangay Balacanas.
Parents and teachers of the said barangays are also wary about the impending demolition of the Balacanas Elementary School to make way for the shipyard.
Ramil Factura, president of the General Parents Teachers and Community Association (GPTCA) of Balacanas said the demolition of the school will leave their children without any place to study in the coming school opening.
"Where will our children hold their classes? They should ensure first that a new school building had been put up before demolishing the elementary school. What they are doing is a violation of our rights," said Factura.
Edygardo Roa, coordinator for Lumayaka-Northern Mindanao, a multisectoral umbrella organization, said the plight of the Villanueva residents is another case of development aggression practiced by Hanjin and tolerated by the government.
"It is a great paradox that the government has been all praises about Hanjin's billion dollar investments in the country. They seem to be so enthralled by Hanjin that they are, deliberately or not, ignoring Hanjin's clear violations of our laws and its wanton disregard of our people's welfare," said Roa.
