Sunday, July 06, 2008 Guv spurns columnist on Hanjin claim By Mark D. Francisco
MISAMIS Oriental Governor Oscar Moreno rejected Philippine Star columnist Jarius Bondoc's opinion piece alleging that Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Corporation had pulled out all its equipment "with not a single nail or brick left behind" from the shipyard construction site inside the Phividec Industrial Estate.
"Is Jarius Bondoc the spokesperson of Hanjin Heavy Industries?" Moreno retorted, when asked of his comment on the columnist’s claim.
“He (Bondoc) is just writing from his armchairs in Makati and hadn't seen the actual shipyard construction site for himself,” said Moreno.
In a July 2 commentary entitled “Hanjin quit Misamis for good,” Bondoc wrote that Hanjin’s pull-out from Misamis Oriental was permanent and that Malacañang has tried to conceal it.
“The last word from the Palace — obfuscation as usual — was that the wrangling between the company and two town mayors had been settled. In truth, Hanjin in late May hauled off all its equipment and personnel from what should have been a 441-hectare $2-billion (P90-billion) facility,” the columnist said.
The town mayors that he referred to are Villanueva’s Juliette Uy and Tagoloan’s Paulino Emano. Both denied they had tried to extort Hanjin.
Moreno said Bondoc was “entitled to his own opinion. That article reflects his opinion on the matter and should not be considered as factual.”
As a proof that Hanjin was coming back, the governor pointed to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Hanjin and Phividec, which provides that the project was still in effect until September. The MOU has not been rescinded, he added.
“In addition, Hanjin’s equipments are still within the Phividec area,” he said.
Provincial engineers, he added, are even assisting Phividec to speed up its commitment with Hanjin in relocating affected residents so that the project can proceed unimpeded.
