Contractor declines to give address
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| Defensor miffed by Kuan Yu's incompetence |
Should Gov. Arthur D. Defensor, Sr. make good his threat of hailing Kuan Yu Global Technologies to court, where will he serve the copy of his complaint to the latter?
And members of Task Force Oil Spill are baffled : Kuan Yu refuses to give its office address "for security reasons".
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| Task force members L - R: Dr. Sadaba, Dr. Banias and Cmmdr Ybanez |
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| Kuan Yu's Valentin Menpin (2nd from right) tells task force convenors that their company address is confidential "for security reasons" |
The spill spread to neighboring towns and down to Ajuy, 40 kilometers south of Estancia.
Defensor's counsel, the Iloilo Provincial Legal Office will only just be looking for a needle in a haystack seeking its official address in Metro Manila to serve copies of its pleadings. Kuan Yu only uses its temporary address, Tanza, Estancia, iloilo. It refuses to reveal even to task force members it's office address in Manila "for security reasons".
Defensor has been miffed by sluggishness of the contractor which does not have a time frame, work plan and worse, equipment and trained personnel to carry out the job.
"As the days drag, Kuan Yu is getting more mysterious," notes Dr. Raul Banias, provincial administrator.
"Please, request us in writing," Kuan Yu's Valentin Menpin tells Grace Prodigo Lobaton, representative of Save Our Seas to the Task Force, who asks for the address.
"How can I reach your office if you don't give its address to us?" Mutters back Lobaton.
"Kuan Yu is merely confirming public suspicion that it is not transparent in its public dealings," comments Dr. Rex Sadaba, oceanologist hired to monitor the contractor's performance.
Sadaba in his power point presentation suggests that Kuan Yu be given a deadline until March 31 to complete the job.
That's not the first trick up in Kuan Yu's sleeve, though. Defensor demanded for copy of its articles of incorporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) but Kuan Yu rebuffed him because its incorporation documents were "trade secrets".
Dr. Glen Alonsabe, also a task force member from the Department of Health (DOH), asked for copies of the payroll to check if the workers were covered with insurance, especially PhilHealth. Kuan Yu's Valentin Menpin, answered that the government health officer write the company requesting it for the payroll copy.
And where will Dr. Alonsabe send his written request?
notes: Curiously:
*Kuan Yu has only P62,500 paid up capital, it has no heavy equipment nor trained crew for oil spill clean up;
*It is engaged in water purification, bottling and delivery and has no track record in oil spill clean up;
*The bidding was done on November 21, 2014; Franklin Drilon on November 19, 2013 announced in Iloilo that the winning contractor was Kuan Yu;
*Kuan Yu started working, December 8, 2013, by siphoning the remaining bunker fuel from the ill-fated power barge;
*it has been fouling up its work:
**stockpiling sacked oil contaminated and dried up oil debris in Ajuy and was slow in transporting the wastes to a processor accredited by the Coast Guard;
**The wastes spilled from the sacks contaminating the bare soil flooring of its temporary warehouse in Ajuy. Ajuy, a town of fishponds has become a pond of oil spill as the liquid from the bagged wastes drained into the soil surface of the warehouse;
**The open well of Brgy. Botongon Elementary School was contaminated by bunker fuel because Kuan Yu people sunk its contaminated pvc pipe to pump freshwater to power spray into the contaminated concrete surfaces and rocks;
**Instead of taking out the dried up bunker fuel on concrete and rock surfaces, Kuan Yu only "sandseeded" (spreading sand) over them;
**To get rid of contaminated rocks, Kuan Yu merely gathered them and dumped them to the deeper portion of the sea off Estancia town.
Commodore Athelo Ybanez, PCG district director, notes that sandseeding and dumping of contaminated rocks into the sea are not in the work plan approved by his office.
(The pictures are taken this morning, regular assessment meeting of the task force.)
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