http:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/inquirerheadlines\/nation\/view\/20100204-251193\/Filipinos-to-bid-in-15-B-Guam-US-naval-project<\/a><\/p>\nFilipinos to bid in $15-B Guam US naval project<\/h1>\n
By Robert Gonzaga<\/p>\n
Central Luzon Desk<\/p>\n
First Posted 02:51:00 02\/04\/2010<\/p>\n
OLONGAPO CITY\u2014Filipino contractors will vie for lucrative contracts in a $15-billion US military expansion program in Guam that, this city\u2019s mayor said, brought back memories of American military presence here.<\/p>\n
Organizers said Filipino manpower and product suppliers had listed up to submit bids for contracts in Guam at the Annual Pacific Island Local Government (APILG) conference that this city would host on Feb. 18-21.<\/p>\n
Mayor James Gordon Jr. said Filipino contractors would get to know the processes involved in bagging contracts in Guam at the APILG conference.<\/p>\n
Dean Alegado, executive director of the APILG conference, said over 1,500 contractors had signed up for contractual bidding processes, which were earlier conducted in Washington, Honolulu and Guam.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn those [bids and awards conferences], over 50 of the companies were Filipino-owned,\u201d Alegado said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were mostly contractors for manpower services. Hosting this conference is a major coup for Olongapo because it can provide opportunities for Filipino contractors from all over the country to meet important decision-makers (in the US military program),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It was \u201cdeja vu for all of us because this is exactly what happened when the US base began construction work here,\u201d Gordon said.<\/p>\n
The US military in Guam, he said, would need \u201clots of services that we can provide\u2014and also products.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everything imported<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cEverything is imported in Guam. For products that they don\u2019t manufacture, maybe we can supply them,\u201d Gordon said.<\/p>\n
The Guam buildup project was spurred by the relocation there of the US naval base in Okinawa. It will require at least 20,000 workers, the Inquirer learned.<\/p>\n
Major engineering work is scheduled to proceed from 2010 to 2014, while 14,200 military personnel and their 38,070 dependents will be transferred to Guam from Okinawa from 2012 to 2016.<\/p>\n
Gordon waxed sentimental about US military presence in his city that the Philippine Senate and the eruptions of Mount Pinatubo ended in 1991.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn three years, my father, who was the first mayor of Olongapo, was able to turn this place into a city [because of the construction of the US naval base],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
End of treaty<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Philippine Senate in 1991 voted overwhelmingly to reject a treaty that would have extended the stay of two key US military bases in the Philippines\u2014the biggest US naval base outside continental America that this city had hosted and an air force base that used to be in Clark that straddled Tarlac and Pampanga.<\/p>\n
The eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the same year hastened the departure of US forces from their bases in Subic and Clark when ash deposits destroyed or damaged US facilities and lahar threatened sites being used by US military forces.<\/p>\n
Aurelio Pineda, president of the Metro Olongapo Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MOCCI), said the conference should address \u201ccritical issues related to opportunities in Guam.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bidders<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cWe have been getting inquiries as to how Filipino companies can reach their prospective partners, or the major contractors there,\u201d Pineda said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, businessmen are interested about issues of labor contracting and employment, which will be tackled (in the conference),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
US firms are still the Filipino contractors\u2019 primary competitors because the Guam project \u201cwill be paid for by US taxpayers,\u201d Alegado said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there is still a huge opportunity for Filipino contractors in other areas like medical, food and training services,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Alegado added: \u201cThey will need skilled workers, medical practitioners and, eventually, also entertainment workers \u2026 and Olongapo wants to take part in this. [Right now] about 20 percent of the people [in Guam] are either from here or Zambales.\u201d<\/p>\n
Accredited by US Navy<\/strong><\/p>\nPineda said Filipino companies that plan to operate in Guam for the buildup project have to be accredited by the US Navy.<\/p>\n
Workers who will be employed there will be hired by the contractors themselves, he said.<\/p>\n
He said the policy was adopted to protect Filipino workers from falling prey to illegal recruiters.<\/p>\n
Gordon said the recruitment \u201cwill be strict \u2026 because this is a military installation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWorkers will be recruited from all over and the US Navy will screen them thoroughly for they might be working in sensitive areas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Natural advantage<\/strong><\/p>\nSince Filipinos have the experience in working in an American naval base, \u201cwe naturally have the advantage,\u201d Gordon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is happening in Guam is nothing new to us, and we might be able to transfer our learning experiences to them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For Olongapo, the Guam military buildup represents the \u201cthird wave of progress,\u201d Gordon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, when the Americans built their bases here, Olongapo became a city. Second, when they left, we were able to convert their facilities into a free port zone. Now, we are going to supply most of their skilled labor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The APILG conference is also expected to draw interested contractors from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Republic of Belau, the American Samoa, Hawaii and Guam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It’s sad and ironic that Filipinos, who fought so hard to get the U.S. bases out of their country because of the terrible social and environmental costs, would now be bidding on contracts for the military expansion on Guam, turning their past oppression into “experience” capital. >><< http:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/inquirerheadlines\/nation\/view\/20100204-251193\/Filipinos-to-bid-in-15-B-Guam-US-naval-project Filipinos to bid in $15-B Guam US … <\/p>\n
Continue reading “Filipinos to bid in $15-B Guam US naval project”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5804"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5804"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5806,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5804\/revisions\/5806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}