The Philippine Online Chronicles

Inside the 77-hectare Subic shipyard special economic zone (SEZ) in Zambales, impunity is the next deadliest thing to falling stern ramps and wobbly scaffoldings.

Early this month, six workers were crushed to death while seven were seriously injured as a 166.5-ton stern ramp collapsed in Singaporean-owned Keppel Subic Shipyard Inc. Based on the report of an independent fact-finding mission by the non-government organizations near the site and among victims’ families, the workers died a horrible death: arms and legs were cut off, abdomen was crushed, and faces were severely damaged. One worker even had his head severely injured, with his skull exposed. Workers interviewed during the mission said that there could be more casualties than what was officially reported.

Despite the huge attention the grim tragedy has drawn, Keppel has managed to withhold information on the circumstances related to the accident. Immediately after the tragedy, the company positioned several security guards at the gates to restrict access to the shipyard. Subic Mayor Jeffrey Khonghun, police authorities and the media were barred from entering the premises.  It took several hours before members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) were finally allowed to conduct an investigation inside.

It is not surprising then why the PNP claimed during the Senate hearing on Monday that the scene of the accident was “tainted,” adding that bodies of the workers and those injured were already gone when they were finally allowed entry. Perhaps the police should have used “whitewashed” rather than “tainted” to aptly describe Keppel’s deliberate effort to clear any evidence that will make it accountable to the death of workers Ronald Lara, Glenn Miranda, Cris Xander Papna, Jhay Lord Reyes, Mark San Juan, and Ronaldo Bagay.

Following the accident, it became apparent that Keppel had been covering up frequent deaths and accidents – at an average rate of one accident in every three months according to the attending physician in the nearby Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.

But the crucial question must be asked, has the government lost its mandate over SEZs? Have foreign companies in ecozones really grown into fiefdoms which are exempt from the country’s law? Ironically, the Keppel tragedy tells us so. The failure of local authorities and the media to enter the compound – which is supposedly a Philippine territory – must be something that lawmakers should ponder. What is with the law that grants Keppel such kind of territorial exclusivity?

At the Senate hearing on Monday, it was found out that the chief of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) in the Subic shipyard SEZ was Keppel’s accomplice in barring investigators from entering the accident site. PEZA should be renamed to the “Philippine Economic Zone Accomplice” for that matter. Well, it has always kept its mouth shut on the deaths of Filipino workers. In Korean-owned Hanjin Shipyard, which is also in Subic, more than 50 workers have died and more than 5,000 accidents have occurred since 2006, and yet PEZA did not speak of the Hanjin’s bloody record even once.

A look at the law will partly explain why PEZA and all other government agencies opt not to exercise their authority over SEZs. Based on Republic Act 7916 or the Special Economic Zones Act of 1995, SEZs “shall administer itself on economic, financial, industrial, tourism development and such other matters within the exclusive competence of the national government.” In short, SEZs are governments of their own with powers that parallel the national government. Government security forces cannot even interfere in the internal affairs of any ecozone, and that the PEZA “may provide and establish the ecozones’ internal security and firefighting forces, based on Section 9 of the republic act.

On top of this exclusive mandate accorded to SEZs, foreign firms within these zones like Keppel are also enjoying various perks and privileges, including exemption from corporate income tax to export taxes. On the othe side, Filipino workers in ecozones are shouldering the social cost of cheap wages and unsafe working conditions, while billions worth of taxes are lost. In the end, the people bears the costs while these foreign corporations enjoy their growing fortunes. With a national policy excessively favoring foreign profiteers, Keppel and all other foreign firms are emboldened to violate labor standards by pressing down costs and compromising workers’ safety.

Now here comes labor chief Rosalinda Baldoz saying that “there are no violations of the general labor standards,” and that the labor department will lift the suspension order on Keppel. How could there be no labor violations when six workers died and several more were injured in the accident? By stating such, Baldoz is making a mockery of the dead by insinuating that human error is the reason for the accident – the same line used by executives of Keppel in washing their hands off the industrial manslaughter.

So, how do we hold SEZ-based foreign firms like Keppel accountable and seek justice for the slain workers? Under the current legal framework and policies which grossly pamper and protect foreign capital, the answer rests not in the courts or Congress but in the streets.

Photo of the stern ramp which collapsed (taken by a Keppel worker). Used with permission.