Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III was in Cebu last Wednesday for two major events, the first one was the launching of the 287-meter 180,000 Dwt bulk carrier “Tenshu Maru” which is the biggest vessel ever built by the Tsuneishi Cebu Heavy Industries, which is a joint venture between Tsuneishi Heavy Industries of Japan and the Aboitiz Group, one of the most successful and profitable joint ventures in this country that has put the Philippines in the shipbuilding map of the world.
What few people do not know is the “Tenshu Maru” was constructed inside the graving dock of the newly-expanded Tsuneishi Shipyard. In the past, they would build the vessels on a sliding dock and when it is finished (in just three months, Tsuneishi can complete one vessel) and the ship is formally launched, the vessel would slide on its back and into the sea. In the graving dock, the vessel is constructed within the dock itself which is below sea level and when the ship is finished, the front gate opens up to flood the graving dock with sea water and the vessel simply floats with the sea.
Unfortunately due to conflicting schedules, I could not attend the events in Balamban. But if there is something that I have been pushing for since the Tsuneishi Shipyard was operational was for government officials to look at what Filipinos are doing in Balamban, building ships for foreign companies. So the question is why can’t the Philippine government tap these shipyards to build a new Philippine Navy?
A stone’s throw from the Tsuneishi Shipyard is the FBMA Marine which is also owned by the Aboitiz Group, but had to stop operations because of the global economic downturn. This company was doing high-tech vessels, making fast craft catamarans for the Hongkong-Macau route. They also made specialized vessels designed by Lockheed Martin to replace the helicopter commuters to service the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. They even built a Roll-off Roll-on catamaran to service the Orkneys in Northern England and another one in Amsterdam.
In short, we already have the local capability; let me emphasize the word “Local” capability to build all kinds of ships for the Philippine Navy, which could trigger more jobs for our people and above all, it would strengthen the capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) which is woefully short on vessels. This is why the joke being spread by Filipinos is that we have a Navy without ships and an Air Force without planes. These talks only bring shame to our country and we can only hope that the visit of PNoy in Balamban pinch his patriotic nerve that we can do these things here at home.
The next event PNoy attended was the formal opening of the Radisson Blu right beside the SM Mall, which is owned by the SM Investments Corp. chaired by business Tycoon Henry Sy. It was a formal evening event where Cebu’s glitterati showed up, not only to ogle at the spanking new edition to the many hotels now operating in Cebu, but also for the chance to win a beautiful Audi 4 given as a raffle. I thought that I’d finally meet the President in one of Cebu’s biggest social events this year. But I learned that he’s schedule was different.
As I met some reporters who went to Balamban with the President and they told me that he probably stayed for only 40 minutes and later in Radisson Blu, he too didn’t stay long. In short the Presidential visit to Cebu was just a quickie! In the evening during the formal blessing of the hotel, many of our friends were asking if PNoy was among those in the full-packed ballroom, because it was a virtual who’s who of Cebu from Cebu Governor Gwen F. Garcia, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and our friends who are honorary consuls of various countries were all there.
This is truly a sharp contrast to the days of the previous President who often had numerous activities when she comes to Cebu, but in the evening, she would stay overnight and enjoyed the socials, meeting with journalists or businessmen. Perhaps the major difference is that PGMA always had the use of the Malacanang sa Sugbo, which made many Cebuanos proud that at least, we had a Malacanang in the South.
But under the present regime, they still have no idea on what to do with the Malacañang sa Sugbo. Cebu City wants to turn it into a museum, but I’m against this simply because they do not even have enough funds to maintain the Fort San Pedro that they got from the Department of Tourism (DoT). Finally, I’m sure you’d like to know who won the beautiful Audi 4 that was raffled during the opening of Radisson Blu. The lucky girl was the Ms. June Alegrado of Maribago BlueWater, the lovely daughter of Austrian Consul Arcadio “Dodong” Alegrado, a good friend of the late Max Soliven.
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