By Joyce Pangco Pa?ares

MALACA?ANG has asked the Senate not to overreact to the spate of deaths at South Korean shipbuilder Hanjin?s facility in Subic, warning calls for the company?s closure are premature and could scare away foreign investors.

South Korean Ambassador to Manila Choi Joong Kyung had already warned of possible ?negative repercussions? arising from the Senate?s investigation of the accidents in Hanjin?s shipyard, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said.

?We are not saying this should not be investigated, but let us not overreact and ask for the closure of the company,? he said.

?Foreign investors are very important to our economy. It is important that we should treat our foreign investors fairly so that we can attract more of them.?

Twenty-six Filipino workers were injured?five of them seriously?on Tuesday after their shuttle bus fell into a ravine on their way to work at the shipyard, one of the biggest in the world and site of the former US naval base.

That was the same day the Senate started its investigation into the series of deaths in the facility.

At least 19 workers have been killed in accidents while working at the shipyard since it opened three years ago.

All of the dead were Filipinos, except for a South Korean foreman who was fatally run over by a forklift last month.

Hanjin is investing close to $2 billion in its facility at the Subic free port, where it employs 14,000 Filipinos. It is expected to invest the same amount in another shipyard in Misamis Oriental.

Remonde said investors were not allowed to violate Philippine laws, but they all deserved and should be given due process.

?No one will invest here if we pressure them too much and push them to the wall,? he said.

Choi had actually tried to persuade the Senate against going ahead with its investigation of Hanjin in a letter to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Dec. 23.

?The tremendous political influence of the Senate means that its action may have fatal effects to the existence of an actor in the private sector,? he wrote.

?The possibility that Hanjin Philippines may be an object of a Senate inquiry could generate negative repercussions.

?The company may find it difficult to secure overseas financing in case there is any shadow cast on its credibility.?