The moribund Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines (HHIC-Phil) will likely have the Philippine Navy as its white knight after President Duterte indicated his openness to a possible takeover.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana bared the government’s option for Hanjin during yesterday’s budget deliberations of the Department of National Defense (DND) at the Senate.

According to Lorenzana, Navy Flag Officer in Command Vice Admiral Roberto Empedrad brought up the idea and he (Lorenzana) relayed it to the President.

“Navy Flag Officer in Command Empedrad mentioned to me, ‘Why not take over Hanjin and give it to the Navy to manage? And so, I brought this idea to the President last night and he is very receptive to the idea,” Lorenzana told senators.

“While we sympathize with the financial woes of Hanjin, we are excited with this development because we see the possibility of having our own shipbuilding capacity in the Philippines, especially large ships, like what is being built by Hanjin’s shipyard in Subic,” he said.

Empedrad expressed the Navy’s readiness to take a portion of the operations of Hanjin, if ever.

Currently, the Armed Forces of the Philippines is busy implementing a long-term modernization program by acquiring frigates and fighter jets from foreign countries.

In the pipeline are two brand new frigates from South Korea.

This early, the idea already won the support of some senators, namely, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senators Richard Gordon and Panfilo Lacson.

“The Philippines has the capability… We can do it,” declared Gordon, raising the possibility of a government joint venture.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson Lacson said the government can take over the facility using the P75 billion floating fund in the proposed 2019 budget.

“What if the Philippine government will just take over Hanjin and bid out to possible partners, private entities? This will mean potential income for the government,” Lacson said.

For his part, Zubiri said, “We fully support the initiative of Senator Lacson.”

Hanjin Philippines filed last week a petition before the Regional Trial Court in Olongapo City for voluntary rehabilitation under Republic Act 10142 or the law providing for the rehabilitation or liquidation of financially-distressed enterprises and individuals.

Hanjin officials revealed to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) that the company has around $400 million in outstanding loans from local banks on top of $900 million in debts owed to South Korea lenders.

Lorenzana had said economic managers are looking into “a local company’s acquisition and operate it to support our Navy modernization.”

However, he said dealing with the matter is still up to the country’s economic team.

“Yes, that was the suggestion I made to (Finance) Secretary (Sonny) Dominguez. It (is) up to them to decide, but that is the ideal setup,” the Defense chief bared.

Earlier, he had said the DND would monitor those who had expressed interest to invest in HHIC-Phil as it is near the Philippine Navy’s major docking and anchorage area of its large naval vessels.

According to SBMA, HHIC-Phil filed a petition Tuesday last week at the Regional Trial Court in Olongapo City “to initiate voluntary rehabilitation under Republic Act 10142, otherwise known as An Act Providing for the Rehabilitation or Liquidation of Financially Distressed Enterprises and Individuals.”