GORDON, PNRC RECEIVE P1.2M DONATION FOR TYPHOON FRANK VICTIMS AT FIRST RP-BUILT CARGO SHIP'S INAUGURATION

Philippine National Red Cross Chairman Senator Richard Gordon and the PNRC received on Friday, July 4, a check for a P1.2 million donation from Filipino-South Korean firm Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp-Philippines, a major investor at the Subic Bay Freeport.

The donation, handed out by Hanjin Chairman Nam Ho Cho, was given on the occasion of the naming of the first ever cargo ship built in the Philippines , the M/V Argolikos. The container carrier has a gross weight of 41,000 tons, length of 258.9 meters, width of 32 meters, and height of 19 meters. The P1.2 million pesos will be used to benefit the victims of Typhoon Frank.

According to Gordon, the M/V Argolikos represents the great potential and bright future of the Philippines in the ship-building industry.

Hanjin, a heavy industries and construction firm, is a Filipino-South Korean joint venture and has poured some $200 million in investments into the Philippines .

Hanjin operates a sprawling 322 hectare shipbuilding facility at the Redondo Peninsula , just a 20-minute ferry ride from the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was also on hand during the inauguration of the M/V Argolikos and she took the occasion to remind those present of all the good that Gordon has done for Subic through the decades.

President Arroyo called Gordon "the Father of Subic", pointing out the investments he helped bring into Subic Bay and his efforts at uniting the people of Subic in his volunteerism movement, a movement that brought much progress to the freeport zone.

Also present at the event were SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza and Dioryx Maritime Corp. Chairman Dmitri Papadimitiou and Pyeong Jong Yu, manager of Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp.-Philippines.