PEZA to register $5-B San Miguel Surigao project

The Philippine Economic Zone and Authority (PEZA) is set to register the $5-billion industrial project of San Miguel Corp. in Nonoc Island, Surigao del Norte. In a social media post, PEZA Director-General Charito B. Plaza said the San Miguel project includes the 600-megawatt power plant and the former Pacific Cement. The project will start operations in 2018. San Miguel’s parent firm Top Frontier Investment Holdings, Inc. early this year announced plans to build the 600-MW power plant to provide power to the upcoming nickel processing plant. PEZA is also planning to revive PICOP Resources Corp. as well as the National Steel Corp. formerly Iligan Integrated Steel Mill in Lanao del Norte. The Yao-owned SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp. has also offered to buy National Steel, which is still involved in an arbitration case in Singapore. Plaza said PEZA is aiming to restore is PICOP in Surigao del Sur and the mothballed National Steel plant in Iligan. Plaza said all these projects are aimed at reviving these vital industries in Mindanao to draw in investments and help create jobs. Picop Resources in Bislig, Surigao del Sur, is an integrated forest and paper company with a forest concession covering about 200,000 hectares in Northeastern Mindanao. Once the largest integrated wood and paper milling company in Southeast Asia, Picop shut down in early 2000. PEZA has been actively seeking investments in agro, industrial, tourism and halal hubs. (BCM)