Hyundai Subic starts first vessel project S By Henry Empeño
PRESIDENT Marcos witnesses the steel-cutting ceremony at HD Hyundai’s Subic facility on Tuesday, September 2, marking the start of Hyundai’s vessel production since taking over the former Hanjin shipyard three years ago. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
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UBIC, Zambale—Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Philippines (HHIP) conducted on Tuesday a steel-cutting ceremony at its Redondo Peninsula shipyard here, signaling the start of vessel production since taking over the former Hanjin facility three years ago. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who pressed the ceremonial button to start the steel cutting machine, said the event also starts the country’s reclaiming of its
“rightful place among the world’s great shipbuilding nations.” The President was joined in the ceremony by Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Sang-hwa, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Ind. CEO Kim Sung-joon, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Philippines president Oh Sekwang, and newly-appointed Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon. HD Hyundai, which has taken over the facilities vacated by Hanjin Heavy Industries in 2019, is reportedly investing some US$550 million over the course
of its 10-year lease to construct about 10 vessels each year. HHIP’s takeover of the shipyard with the United States equity firm Cerberus Global Investment LLC, Marcos said, will raise the capacity of the shipyard allowing it to eight massive oil tankers from just four to five of such vessels. The Korean firm will initially focus on the construction of product tankers measuring up to 250 meters long, Baird Maritime reported last month. In his message, Marcos hailed Hyundai’s entry in Subic and its partnership to revive shipbuilding
in the country. “Together with our partners, we are reviving the shipbuilding in the country to strengthen industries, promote livelihood, and build a better, stronger future for the Philippines,” Marcos said. He noted that Philippine shipyards were producing 1.2 to 2 million gross tons of ships annually from 2014 to 2018, until the output fell in 2019, the year that Hanjin ceased operations in Subic. “Today, we raise the sails once more,” he added. Marcos said that with HD See “Hyundai,” A2
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GROWTH GOALS TO STAY DESPITE FLOOD IMPACT www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Wednesday, September 3, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 325
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 22 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
By Cai U. Ordinario
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@caiordinario
HE country’s growth targets this year remain safe from revision despite the floods which stalled economic activities, according to the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DepDev). DepDev Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said this is despite his recognition that floods disrupt economic activities and lead to the destruction of assets, among others. The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) is targeting a full-year growth of 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent in 2025. Starting next year until 2028, the government is aiming to post an average growth of 6 to 7 percent. “So far, I think people, the business sector can adjust. We can do some overtime for the renos [renovations], causing the people to work. But what is not good, if it happens too often, then the cost can be difficult to recover,” Balisacan told reporters at the sidelines of the Senate Finance Committee Hearing on Tuesday. Balisacan said floods, similar to what happened last Saturday, lead to class suspensions, closed offices, and stop See “Growth,” A2
TWO CARS, TOO FEW Bureau of Customs Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomoceno leads the inspection of luxury vehicles linked to St. Gerrard Construction Company, a family-owned firm of the Discaya clan, in Pasig City on Tuesday, September 2, 2025. Although the company declared ownership of 28 high-end cars, inspectors found only two luxury vehicles during the operation. The inspection comes amid rising scrutiny over flood-control contracts tied to the Discaya family, spotlighted in recent Senate Blue Ribbon hearings. Meanwhile, the Department of Trade and Industry has launched a “major cleanup” of the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) to overhaul anomaly-ridden accreditation processes. At the same time, business groups have welcomed the appointment of Vince Dizon as the new Secretary of Public Works and Highways—seeing it as a potential turning point for the agency amid concerns over corrupt flood-control projects. NONOY LACZA
RISING DEFENSE SPENDING TO IMPACT FISCAL POSITIONS
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EFENSE spending across Asia, including the Philippines, are projected to increase in the coming years but Capital Economics expects this to place additional pressure on the fiscal positions of these countries. In its latest brief, Capital Economics said most countries are expected to increase defense spending by 0.5 to 1.5 percent of GDP in the next two years. However, the means of financing this increase will matter. Capital Economics said if these will be financed by additional borrowing, this could become a
boost to GDP. But if these are financed through the reduction of spending for other budget items or higher taxes, this may not be much of a boost to GDP. “Fiscal constraints are more pronounced in Pakistan and the Philippines, where any substantial increase in defense spending would likely need to be matched by reductions in other areas,” Capital Economics said. Capital Economics said most countries in Asia allocate less than the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) average of 2 percent of GDP. Further, no See “Rising,” A2
Dizon: We’ll clean up DPWH in 60 days By Lorenz S. Marasigan
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ITH billions of pesos potentially lost to “ghost and non-existent” flood control projects, new Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon has given himself 60 days to purge the agency of bad eggs and rebuild public trust. Dizon, who moved from the Department of Transportation to head DPWH after Manuel Bonoan’s resignation, said the cleanup is necessary to restore integrity in one of the government’s largest and most corruption-plagued agencies. He has pressed more than 250 officials to tender their courtesy resignations in the wake of the “ghost” flood control projects unearthed by
no less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “As in any organization, there are problematic members. There are bad eggs and the process of weeding out the bad and replacing them with the good is a process that all organizations have to go through at some point,” he said. Dizon noted that he believes that the “vast majority of the people in DPWH are good people—they’re talented, honest, hardworking people,” while highlighting that the purge is “necessary.” “Sometimes it requires a seismic event to force that institution to evolve and to change. And we are in the middle of that right now,” he said. “Personally, we are giving ourselves 60 days maximum to be
able to see how best we can reorganize and hopefully after 30 to 60 days we will have an organization that we feel will be ready to take on these challenges and move forward.” Over the past several weeks, the DPWH has been under fire after “ghost” and substandard flood control projects were exposed, with the agency finding “15 nonexistent” and “two” being ghost projects. The revelations drew anger as they came amid massive flooding from heavy rains from serial weather disturbances and the southwest monsoon, submerging communities, farmlands and even major thoroughfares. Former Secretary Manuel Bonoan, who officially handed over the
helm of the agency to Dizon on Tuesday, explained that these were the results of the initial validation conducted by his team. Non-existent, he explained, are being further validated but have the markings of a ghost project. The latter term, meanwhile, refers to projects that were marked completed and paid, but no infrastructure was delivered. About 160 more locations out of more than 1,600 sites have yet to be validated.
Perpetual blacklisting
DIZON said he is firm with his stance that he will ensure the perpetual blacklisting of contractors found to have been involved in See “Dizon,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 57.2660 n JAPAN 0.3891 n UK 77.5783 n HK 7.3447 n CHINA 8.0233 n SINGAPORE 44.6205 n AUSTRALIA 37.5264 n EU 67.0585 n KOREA 0.0411 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.2608 Source: BSP (September 2, 2025)