By BenCyrus Gerona Ellorin

WHEN I worked in Subic Bay sometime in 2011, I had met many workers from Misamis Oriental, particularly Tagoloan and Villanueva.

They were housed at the bunkers in Lower Cubi in the Bataan side of the freeport. Their work however is across at the Hanjin shipyard in the Zambales area.

These workers, already trained as welders and other shipbuilding skills, lamented getting dislocated very far. They all wished they work near their families – enjoy their toil with their loved ones and kids, and not stocked in old soldiers’ barracks, with many monkeys playing around, yes, real monkeys.

Hanjin Industries set its eyes on the Phivedec Industrial Estate in Villanueva town in 2007. Earthworks, in fact, had commenced for the $2 billion project, but it made a sudden exit in 2009, after unreasonable demands from town officials.

Lost: 40,000 jobs.

According to pundits, what could have been the biggest foreign direct investment in Mindanao, was gone because of the vested interest of local pols.

In an Opinion piece published by the Philippine Star on June 22, 2015, Gerardo Sicat recalled the Hanjin tragedy of mismanaged foreign investment at the Phivedec in Villanueva and Tagoloan towns.

He wrote:
“As the construction phase was about to begin, the motives of the local politicians became apparent. They withheld approvals because they also wanted direct benefits from the project.

“For instance, as the project would begin to build, a large number of contracts for materials are involved. One could begin with sand and gravel where the local government had a lot of say.

“There were reports that unreasonable demands on the provision of such supplies at the onerous price were being made on the investor. The local government permit system was being made hostage to the extraction of contracts from the investor for the supply of construction materials.

“Playing hardball tactics was a narrow, short-term view of the benefits. Instead of being helpful, the local mayors became obstructionists. Instead of helping to facilitate the project, in a high drama, they played a high stakes drama of playing to local issues.”

Who were the mayors of Villanueva and Tagoloan towns in those years?

For Tagoloan, it was Paulino Emano.

In Villanueva, Juliette Uy. Yes, the one running for governor.