Protest versus Coal Plant set on August 29th

Political leaders of the city are calling residents to join a  protest action against the 300MV Subic coal plant that will be built in Redondo Peninsula on August 29th.

The protest will start at Marikit Park and will begin at around 3pm.

Except for the local government of Subic, Zambales, almost all LGUs around Subic Bay have expressed opposition to the construction of the power plant owned by RP Energy.

Meralco owns a controlling stake of RP Energy.

Olongapo City gets biggest share of P65 million Freeport revenue share

Local government around the Subic Bay Freeport zone received revenue shares amounting to P65 million with Olongapo City getting the lion's share of around P16.75 million.

This upped the total revenue share given by the Freeport authority to around P121.56 million.

In a statement, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) said that this was the second time this year that LGUs received revenue shares from the Freeport.

"Through these shares, we hope to help the LGUs execute development projects in return for their contribution of manpower and other resources that help the success of Subic Bay Freeport," SBMA adminsitrator Arman Arreza was quoted in a press statement said.

SBMA’s records showed that Olongapo City got P16.75 million; Subic, Zambales, P9.28 million; Dinalupihan, Bataan, P8.19 million; San Marcelino, Zambales, P7.87 million; Hermosa, Bataan, P6.59 million; Morong, Bataan, P5.78 million; San Antonio, Zambales, P5.77 million; and Castillejos, Zambales, P5.41 million.

The LGU share is derived from the 5% corporate tax that SBMA collects from locators.(30)

Crane protest of woman worker enters 8th month

A woman labor activist continues to defy calls for her to end her 211 day protest against unfair labor practices at the Hanjin shipyard in Korea. 


The 51-year-old welder sneaked into Crane No. 85 last January 6 to condemn layoffs at a major South Korean shipping company in this southern port city.


Kim's situation put to the fore the state of labor in Korea where the law does not force companies to bargain in good faith.


"In South Korea, even basic worker bargaining rights are not guaranteed," Cho Don-moon, a sociologist at Catholic University of Korea in Seoul, was quoted by the Los Angeles Times.


Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction is aware that the protest is hurting their image, both demestically and internationally.


"She has nothing to do with our company, yet she has caused us a lot of harm," said Jung Cheol-seong, a Hanjin spokesman.


In Subic Bay, workers have organized a union, but Hanjin has repeatedly refused to recognize it even if the Philippine government has already recognized the union as the sole collective bargaining agreement for Hanjin shipyard workers.


South Korean officials here have refused to make public statements on the matter in the hope that news of deaths, injuries and unfair labor practices will go away, like the ship they build for their clients.


Just recently, a solidarity march for the union was held by catholic leaders and some trade union federations. Ironically, another Filipino died before the caravan that began in Metro Manila was able to reach the shipyard.


In Korea, workers have died. Some have taken their lives to fight for workers' rights.


In 2003, after waging a three-month vigil to protest working conditions, Kim Ju-ik, a 40-year-old father of three, hanged himself in the crane's control room. His suicide note proclaimed, "This is a country where a laborer has to risk his life to live like a human."


The same control room that Kim no occupies. (with quotes from the Los Angeles Times)

Subic-based yacht wins again

SUBIC Bay-based Selma Star C! Calibre posted an unprecedented fifth straight overall championship in the 8th Borneo International Yachting Challenge held recently in the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah.

Zambalesz legislature opposes coal plant in Subic Bay

Vice governor Ramon Lacbain yesterday said that the Zambales provincial board opposed the contruction of the plant and urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to cancel the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) it issued to Aboitiz Power Corporation.
 

Petron, Eastern locked in a legal battle in Subic Bay

Oil giant Petron Corp. will face a complaint by Eastern Petroleum Corp. on Thursday over the P50-million Subic megastation, Eastern Petroleum chairperson Fernando Martinez said Wednesday.

Martinez said Eastern Petroleum will file a restraint of trade complaint against Petron before the Energy Department for allegedly violating the Oil Deregulation Law of 1998 when it blocked the opening of Eastern Petroleum’s Subic megastation.

Petron has stood firm in upholding a contract between it and the SBMA prohibiting the construction of a similar business within an 800-meter radius inside the free port area. 

The Petron official explained that the SBMA Board approved the 800-meter radius provision as an incentive for taking a “gamble" in Subic in 2003, when the area was still “underdeveloped." (30) 

Hanjin points to subcontractor on new worker death

South Korean shipbuilding giant, Hanjin Heavy Industries Corporation Phils., said that the worker who died Wednesday was a worker of Sitikor, and not a Hanjin employee.