A Cabinet-level committee should look into “all available options” to quickly revive the Subic shipyard of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines Inc., party-list group ACTS-OFW said Thursday, Jan. 17. “Our biggest concern now is how to rescue the shipyard’s 10,800 Filipino workers, including the 7,000 laid off in December,” said ACTS-OFW Rep. Aniceto Bertiz III. At its peak, Hanjin’s ship construction and repair facilities in Subic Bay, Zambales, directly employed up to 21,000 Filipinos. “Another option is for the government to encourage a new private investor--preferably a Filipino conglomerate—to come in, pay off Hanjin’s bank debts and other liabilities at a discount, and revive the shipyard’s operations initially at a smaller scale,” Bertiz said. An Olongapo City regional trial court has put Hanjin under receivership after the company defaulted on its debt obligations and filed for corporate rehabilitation on Jan. 8. It was the biggest corporate bankruptcy in the Philippines, with P21.5 billion in unpaid loans owed to five banks—Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Land Bank of the Philippines, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., Bank of the Philippine Islands and BDO Unibank Inc. (PR)