SMAW GRADUATES

*March 10 - March 28,2008
Batch 74

ROZEN AQUINO
RENATO PAGDATO
JOEL MADRIAGA
RUSTICO PINPIN
LUIS BAUYOR
GLAIZA JOY DINONG
RODEL FLORES
JESUS ANOBA
JOSEPHINE ABELLAR
FRENNY DEAÑO
JOEL MENDOZA
ARTURO VIEN RAYA
ALEJANDRO LAMAR
ADA LYKA DELA TORRE
PATRICK MARCAIDA
JOY GRACE DOMINGO
QUERUBEN DE LEON
JENDRICK I HERMOSO
ALBERT BACSAL
YOLANDO NAPOLES
JEFFREY SOLOMON
YOSHIBO LASS
ALLAN RONALD PALATTAO
JOSEPH DELOVIAR
RESTY SORIANO
CARLITO ESPANO
JACINTO RUIDERA
CHRISTIAN MANAWIS
PERLA FORTES
MANILIN TAPADO
JULIE ANNE MOLINA
ANA GUASIS
RAULITO TIGWARA
CESAR YABUT
JULIE POGADO
MARVIN NIERVA
ROBERT ESTUITA
REYMOND MARMETO
ORLANDO BALDERAS,JR.
CHRISTOPER REMOLLO,JR.
CELSO RIVERA
JEFFREY MEDINA
VIVIAN FALLORINA
JAY ANTHONY VILLARANTE
JOSEPH DATOON
EARLY JORGE CUA
BRIAN BUSTRIA
JERRY GONZALES
JETTRO JIM DEAÑO
ROBERTO LARANANG
BERNARD PAUL MANLANGIT
ARNULFO ABLONG
RUPERTO MOVILLA,JR.
BRYAN ALMINE
SHERWIN ELEFANTE

Lack of skilled workforce

Top problem for second year

Lack of skilled workforce slows business expansion. A large Korean investor and many Middle East contractors also expressed concern about the lack of qualified welders and other skilled technicians

By Katrina Mennen A. Valdez, Reporter

BUSINESSMEN consider the lack of a skilled workforce as the biggest constraint to expansion, according to the annual International Business Report issued by Grant Thornton International Ltd.

For two consecutive years, the unavailability of a skilled workforce emerged as the most important constraint to business expansion among Filipinos. Similarly, skills lack emerged as the number one problem of privately held business around the world, displacing inhospitable regulations and red tape.

The report, which was released by Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A), is an annual survey of the attitudes and expectations of medium-sized businesses. This year, the report surveyed 7,800 respondents from 34 participating countries.

Of the Filipino business leaders polled, 58 percent said the growth of their enterprise is worst affected by the unavailability of a skilled workforce, up from last year’s 43 percent. Globally, the proportion of respondents who cited this constraint increased from 34 percent last year to 37 percent this year.

In terms of lack of a skilled workforce, the Philippines shared the third spot with Australia, while Thailand and New Zealand were the top two countries wherein this was also a problem.

“[We] are in a dire situation since [we] now belong to the top three countries whose business growth is limited mostly by this human resource problem,” Greg Navarro, P&A managing partner said.

Late last year, networking company Cisco reported that the Philippines was short of 1,300 information technology professionals, with this shortage expected to rise to 2,400 by next year.

A large Korean investor and many Middle East contractors also expressed concern about the lack of qualified welders and other skilled technicians, the report said.

“The business community has been experiencing the gradual and continuous deterioration of the quality of graduates in the past decade or so, and has organized itself to help the education sector improve the standard in the country,” Navarro said.

Besides the unavailability of a skilled workforce, the report also showed a notable increase in the percentage of Filipino respondents concerned about the reduced demand for their products or services. From 17 percent of respondents last year, this figure jumped to 46 percent this year.

This was followed by red tape, which had been on a downward track for the past four years. Last year, 26 percent of Filipino business leaders said it was a major roadblock to growth, down from 34 percent in 2006. This year, 49 percent consider it a major constraint.

“Besides being a major constraint to business, red tape also influences the flow of foreign investments into the country. So [we] have to take a serious look at how [we] can reduce bureaucracy and cut the costs of doing business in the Philippines if we want to catch up with [our] Asian neighbors,” Navarro said. Manila Times

SMAW GRADUATES

*March 3 - March 21,2008
Batch 73

MIGUEL PARPAN
KERWIN GONZALES
RONALD DELA VEGA
JUNE BALDOVINO
CARMELO CAPIÑA
BENZ WALTER BERANIA
DEXTER ESQUIVEL
BYRON ABELLA
RONNIE RAGAY
JOHN JOVI TESORERO
KENETH ROTAIRO
LEE ALVAREZ
ALBERTO REYES,JR.
CHARLES MANUEL
JUNE OCAMPO
ALDOLPH ALDRIN AQUE
JOEY NERI
GEOFFREY ANONAS
CESAR ANONAS
DOMINGO ESPIRITU
ASHBY HARMON,JR.
DEXTER MONTES
ANGELO MULI
ANTHONY CORONEL
AMANTE TORRES
MANUEL RODRIGUEZ
ARVIE RENZ ALCOBER
ARSENIO DELA CRUZ
RAYMUND MARK RAMOS
NOEL MACASPAC
LEONHEL MATIBAG
ARNEL BORJA
REYNEL GALIDO
DELBER NIÑOFRANCO
EVELYN ENRIQUEZ
ERLINDA ECLAR
JOSE ESTRELLA
RICARDO BENITO
RYAN RENEI MENDIGORIN
JARVIN ALIM
RODEL RAMIREZ
MYRA JAMITO
ANGELINA ABAD
MYLENE VERAL
KENNETH AQUINO
ROEL MOSELINA
RAMIL ACOBERA
RICHARD COMIA
EDUARDO ALDAVE
CECILIO NAGAL
JOSEPH MOSE
DONALD ILOCO
JENLYN PERIARCE
JOSEPH MOSELINA
WILLY SORBETO
JOSEL VEGA
RICA RODA UNTALAN
ANGELO LUZ
CHRISTOPHER NUGUID
DIVINE GAGARIN
ROMUALDO PARUAGAO

SMAW GRADUATES

*February 25 - March 14,2008
Batch 72

LEOPOLDO QUILLOY
JAMES JARDIN
ANNALYN MEDINA
DIWATA ABAGAT
FRANCIS NAVARRO
ROLAND DAGSAAN
ROMMEL CASTRO
AL CAPULONG
GEORGE ALFARO
JOSE BUDOMO,JR.
MARIA CORAZON FERNANDEZ
JULIE ANN BERNARDO
TERESITA ALCANTARA
ISAIAS SAMPANG,JR.
EMELITA SELOMENTO
SHERLY ONG
JONDY RAMOS
JERRY SALONGA
RABI NOEL DE JESUS
EDGARDO JAVIER
SHERWYN MERANO
TRANCY NARVASA
RAFELO BIJA
CAMIL MARIE GATMIN
NENITA RUBICO
LILIA MAYO
DENNIS DE GUZMAN
EDWARD ARCALA
BRYAN DALANON
DANILO YAONA
ENGGEL GOMEZ
JERIC MICHAEL RAGURO
JASON MACATUNAO
EMMANUEL PRESTO
MIGUEL CINCO
RAYMOND VELASCO
RANNIE CALAJE
ARGIE SORIA
GINNA CUSTODIO
JIMMY CRUZ
ARCHIE NILO
JAYSON DE LEMON
ALMA BUSTAMANTE
JUANITO DELMONTE
MANDY SOLEDAD
FRANCIS AMBASA
JEANILYN SABATIN
RODELYN SANGUYO
BEVERLY PASANG
JOSSIE BAUTISTA
JENNIFER ENCISO
JUREN MARTINEZ
EPIFANIO FESTEJOS
RANDY ARBOLLENTE
MARIVIC AGUINALDO
ROMANO TABUYOC
CHRISTOPHER LIM
VINCENT EBALLE
AMINA ESTRADA
ROSE DE GUZMAN
JOAN SAPLARAN
SHERYLL SERVITO
JAIME NILO
DARWIN TRININDAD
EDUARDO ESCUBIDO

Hanjin Visit

Mayor James Gordon Jr visited the Hanjin Skills Development Center to have first-hand experience on the training program being given by Hanjin to its shipbuilders.

Councilor Edwin Piano, Head of the city's Hanjin Task Force visited the shipyard to check the welfare of its contituents and get update on the Hanjin Shipbuilding Project

Olongapo City Skills Training Director Edwin J. Piano poses with trainors Celia Obias-Alipio, Garry Magrata and Bayani Legaspi at the backdrop of Mayor Gordon's free welding training at Rizal triangle

3 workers killed in 2 new Hanjin accidents in Subic

ABS CBN News regarding latest fatal accident at Hanjin Subic
===

3 workers killed in 2 new Hanjin accidents in Subic

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, Philippines -- At least three workers were added to the list of victims of work-related deaths at the country’s largest shipbuilding facility here.

Neil Mojica and Eduardo Molina, both residents of Barangay (village) Balaybay in Castillejos, Zambales, died shortly before 11 p.m. Monday when a crane they were moving to another location fell on them, reports from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority showed.

Investigators of the SBMA’s ecology center said the two, who worked as sling men for a subcontractor at the shipbuilding facility of Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp. Philippines (HHIC), were removing the shackles from the crane when it cranes snapped from its trestle and pinned them.

Mojica and Molina were killed instantly.

At least two other workers, whom the SBMA did not identify, were hurt and taken to a local hospital.

Ameth dela Llana-Coval, head of the SBMA ecology department, said their preliminary investigation showed that before the accident, a worker told a colleague that the trestles on which the collapsed part of the crane rested “were not properly on the level.”

Former Zambales vice governor Ramon Lacbain II, head of Task Force Hanjin, a citizen's group monitoring the operations of the company, said the third fatality died from another accident Tuesday morning.

Lacbain said the worker, Angelo Banaag, died at the James L. Gordon Hospital while undergoing treatment.

Banaag was taken to the hospital after falling from a roof, Lacbain said.

The latest accident brings to five the total number of work-related deaths at the South Korean-owned facility over the last three months.

On January 18, an explosion killed two welders and injured three others.

The SBMA found Hanjin guilty of violating at least seven safety standards and ordered the company to comply with international safety standards.

Task Force Hanjin also accused the firm of violating the occupation and safety standards of the country.

Lacbain said his group has documented at least nine work-related deaths at Hanjin since 2006.

He said Reynan Loquinario, 25, died on December 24 last year when he fell on the road together with several steel pipes loaded on a truck.

A Korean, was reportedly driving the truck when the accident happened.

Another accident happened in the second week of January when another worker was run over by a truck but the victim remained unidentified, he said.

“We reiterate our call for President [Gloria] Macapagal-Arroyo to create an independent body to determine violations by Hanjin and their subcontractors of safety standards so that appropriate actions can be taken and avoid further deaths and accidents,” Lacbain told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

“The families of the victims deserve justice not only in terms of monetary compensation but also in holding accountable those who have failed in enforcing international safety standards [at the facility],” he said.
By Ansbert Joaquin - Northern Luzon Bureau and Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon

SMAW GRADUATES

*February 18 - March 7,2008
Batch 71

ROBIN JOHN SEVILLA
BRIAN ALQUIGUE
MAC BRYAN JUMAQUIO
MARIO JUMAQUIO
ALEXANDER TALAVERA
ROBERT JOHN RAMOS
FRANCIS NIEL SALA
RONALD TORRALBA
JAMES ABIGANIA
NESTOR GAYANDATO
ERIC MILLANES
ALBERTO BATAYOLA
JOEL BAUTISTA
ARMANDO BARTOLATA,JR.
ALVIN SANGUYO
ALJON MEMIJE
RAMIL SABANDO
JOSELITO TAMAGOS
JOMER VILLAFLORES
JOSUE ESMAN
DANIEL LAXAMANA
ANDREW MENDONIS
NIGEL RIVERA
JEFFREY LUMACAD
REYNOLD FERNANDEZ
CHRISTIAN RAY MELENCIO
JEFFREY ANDRADA
JANICE DAVID
VENUS GARCIA
JENNY JIMENEZ
JERWIN GAYONDATO
DAVE CORTEZ
ARMAN MAGSANOP
RETCHEI POLIDO
VERNARD ADVINCULA
EDGAR GO,JR.
RODERICK EDADES
LORENA MIRADOR
ANTHONY IAN MAS
DANIEL GENEROSO
GEORGE SALAS,JR.
RONALD GARCIA
MENCHIE RITUAL
WILFREDO ARRO
EFREN FAMULARCANO,JR.
JELISAR GARDOQUE
GERALD BALANGON
JAMES JARDIN
CHRISTOPHER DOMINGO
NOLI BOJACADI

40,000 Workers Needed for Hanjin's Mindanao Shipbuilding Facility

South Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries needs 40,000 workers over the next few years to construct and operate their $2 billion shipyard in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.

"Hanjin officials prefer untrained applicants so they can be properly trained the Hanjin standards," said Pacifico Pupos, Jr., presidential assistant for Northern Mindanao. "In fact, the first batch of 50 welders is now training in Hanjin's Subic facility."

Besides welders, Pupos said Hanjin would also be needed plumbers and electricians for the project. He said Hanjin will be shortly opening its recruitment offices in Cagayan de Oro.

The shipyard is the firm's second in the country and will be situated in a 441.8-hectare lot at the Phividec Industrial Estate. The new facility will have a capacity of 830,000 tons per year when completed in 2017, the Phividec Industrial Authority said earlier in a statement. It will be the largest in the county-even bigger than Hanjin's $1-billion shipyard complex in Subic-and would employ 40,000 people to initially make ship parts.

The first phase of its Phividec operations will fabricate pipes and light bridges with a maximum capacity of 80,000 tons a year starting next year. The facility's capacity would expand to 830,000 tons in the next 15 years, when it starts producing cargo and container ships.

General Manager Jeong Sup Shim said Hanjin decided to build the facility in Misamis Oriental after the Philippine government declared the 441.8-hectare project site an economic zone. This would allow Hanjin to import duty-free capital equipment and avail of income tax holidays.

Jeong said Hanjin will inject at least P4.6 billion per year into the local economy in salaries and wages for its employees.

This year, Hanjin expects to finish most of its first US$1.68-billion shipyard in the Philippines located in a 349-hectare lot at the Subic Bay Freeport zone, which is scheduled for completion by 2011.

Capacity constraints in Korea have forced Hanjin to go overseas for its expansion. The firm is scheduled to deliver 33 medium-sized container vessels worth approximately $3 billion in the next two years and build 82 large-sized ships from 2009 to 2011 at its Philippine facilities. Mike Banos - American Chronicles