Filipino-American Club of the Jersey Shore, Monmouth County, New Jersey, filamorg.com

Courtesy of:  Robert Gonzaga,  Philippine Daily Inquirer,  inquirer.net,  February 21, 2010

" OLONGAPO CITY—As a young recruit in the US Navy 30 years ago, the man who would rise to the highest reaches of the world’s remaining military superpower could not have dream of the impact he would have on the world.

But Capt. Ulysses Zalamea, 53, the Filipino-American US naval officer in charge of the planning and execution of the $15-billion buildup in Guam, would show through his rapid rise soon after he joined the US Navy that he had “the right stuff.”  Zalamea said about $1 billion worth of projects are scheduled to be completed or begun this year....

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After finishing his training at Recruit Training Command in California, he was assigned as enlisted recruiting officer to the US Navy in Los Angeles.

From there, he went on to command the USS Oak Hill and serve in the Pentagon and various posts in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as the US representative.

Today, he is the deputy director of the Joint Guam Program Office.

Zalamea, who hails from Pagsanjan, Laguna, is the highest ranking Filipino-American in the US Navy, Dean Alegado, executive director of the Association of Pacific Islands Local Government (APILG) Conference, told businessmen, contractors, Olongapo City officials and workers on Tuesday.

Bemedalled officer

Zalamea, who was recruited by the Navy here in Subic in 1977, distinguished himself and received the Meritorious Service Medal Award thrice, the Navy Commendation Medal six times, and the Navy Achievement Medal. These were only a few among the many accolades he has received over the years.

Alegado said Zalamea was the “main draw” of the opening last Feb. 18 of the third APILG conference that tackled the Guam military buildup that would need the services of skilled Filipino workers and contractors. The conference ends Sunday.

Zalamea, who earned his undergraduate degree from the Far Eastern University in Manila, will be in charge of the “most important and biggest infrastructure projects in the Pacific region in the last 30 years,” Alegado said.

“The objective of the conference is to take advantage of the massive development in Guam in terms of supplying skilled workers and creating business opportunities for Filipino contractors and service providers,” he said.

The buildup came about after the US government approved the relocation of its naval base from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam starting 2012.

Zalamea said the project will start this year.

“We have over 200 proposals from contractors from all over and we are going to narrow it down to four or five,” Zalamea said.

He said four or five companies will tap subcontractors in Guam, the Pacific region or the US mainland for the project.

“I hope I can open doors for other Filipinos as the US Navy has given me so much opportunity when I was starting out. The buildup in Guam is one such opportunity for Filipino businessmen and workers,” he said.

Alignment of stars

Alegado said: “With Zalamea attending the conference and being the main speaker, all the stars are aligning for us. I hope we can take advantage of that.”

So far, the response of local governments and Filipino businessmen has been “overwhelmingly positive,” he said.

He said over 1,500 contractors had signed up for contractual bidding processes, which were earlier conducted in Washington, Honolulu and Guam. About 50 of them are Filipino-owned, mostly contractors for manpower services.

Major engineering work will proceed for the next four years, while 14,200 military personnel and their 38,070 dependents will move to Guam from Okinawa from 2012 to 2016.

Aurelio Pineda, president of the Metro Olongapo Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MOCCI), said Filipino contractors who plan to operate in or send workers to Guam for the build-up project are getting a shot at being close to the key players during the conference.

“Contractors will process those who will work in Guam. They will have to be accredited by the US Navy for security reasons, but the responsibility will be up to them. This policy protects our workers against illegal recruiters,” he said.

“Attending this conference will clear up all the questions in the minds of contractors and community leaders. The key players in the Guam buildup will be here to do that. This is a networking opportunity for Filipino businessmen.”

To waive US visas

Pineda said Olongapo establishments were preparing a “warm welcome.”

“We are thankful that they have chosen Olongapo to host this conference. We want to expose them to the tourism attractions in Subic and Olongapo,” he said.

Councilor Edwin Piano, who heads the city’s Guam Build-Up task force, said the quota of Filipino workers who can be sent to Guam, pegged at only 7,000, had been waived. Olongapo’s target of sending more than 20,000 skilled workers to Guam is now possible, he said.

Paving the way for the hiring of Filipino workers is a bill filed in the Guam legislature that would also waive the need for US visas, Piano said.

“Getting those visas is hard and expensive so this is another welcome development for us,” he said.

Mayor James Gordon Jr. said that after two years of working to create opportunities for workers and businessmen in Guam, “we are prepared for the buildup. Our intent is to bring skilled workers and Filipino investors to Guam. We want a piece of that action.”

He said the exodus of skilled workers to Guam had started in Olongapo with the shipyard there “recruiting exclusively Filipinos who are well trained.”

Underwater welders

“Most are underwater welders. They are highly paid. We are the preferred source of workers in Guam,” Gordon also said.

He also said the island’s nearness to the Philippines would create an opportunity for medical tourism for Olongapo and the rest of the country.

“Guam is only three and a half hours away from here. Everything is falling into place in medical tourism. In Olongapo, there are high-quality hospitals. We want patients in Guam to come here,” he said.

US military personnel, contractors, and mayors 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 are taking part in the APILG conference."