DREAM FORGED IN FIRE
PHL renews industrialization bid with $4-B steel mill project in Mindanao
DAVAO CITY—The elusive decades-old dream of an industrialized Philippines may slowly but surely turn into reality, assuming it won’t be derailed for the nth time.
The renewed bid to industrialize will, however, take its roots not in developed congested urban areas like Metro Manila, Cebu, or even Davao City. Rather, it would likely start in the countryside, specifically in a relatively remote underdeveloped part of Northern Mindanao.
Industrialists participating in the first industrialization summit in Cagayan de Oro City last year underscored the existing and important stakes that were already put in place and which only need to be brought in line on the road to industrialization.
These include various and disparate policies, like the Palace’s Administrative Order (AO) 18, which ordered the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) to deny further application of economic zones in the National Capital Region to accelerate economic activities in the countryside, and the robust economic zones scattered across the country.
“Work on research and development and human resource development is already in progress,” said summit organizer, Franklin M. Quijano, administrator and chief executive officer of the Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corp. (Phividec) Industrial Authority in Misamis Oriental.
Quijano said the project’s initial work also needs to be supported by developing the institutional setup among industries, government and academe, especially in Northern Mindanao.
Decentralized industrial activities will be the main feature of this vision, hued close to AO 18 that was signed in June last year. In this AO, President Duterte specified the point he made during his presidential campaign, that revving up the rural economy was not only meant to democratize the opportunities for work and economic development of the countryside; it was the only way out for a congested Metro Manila.
He directed the Peza to deny further accepting, processing and evaluating applications for new economic zones in Metro Manila to complement the government’s work to vitalize rural economy.
Mindanao hub
MINDANAO will play a supporting cog to the industrial wheel in this southern part of the country where largely undeveloped agricultural areas have also forced many residents to migrate to the proverbial greener pastures of Metro Manila, Cebu and the cities of Davao and Cagayan de Oro also in Mindanao.
But a planned development for Mindanao would level the playing field for investments, Quijano said.
“This southern Philippine island has always been an attractive place to investors. This is due
to its natural resource potential, suitable geographical location, favorable climate, among others,” he added.
In fact, he emphasized, “Iligan City was once called in the 1970s1990s as the Industrialized City of the South until the global crisis struck our economy in the late mid-’90s.” In the heart of the city was the once-booming National Steel Corp., the backbone of the steel industry in the country, and along its corridor going to Cagayan de Oro City are about three cement factories, a chemical company, a flour mill and other industrial complexes.
Comeback
ONE of the major prospects for Mindanao for this year is the entry of an integrated steel mill, which is expected to be established on the initial 305-hectare area of Phividec Industrial Estate Misamis Oriental-Special Economic Zone (PIEMO-SEZ), Northern Mindanao, he said.
The Cagayan de Oro Citybased Mindanao Daily said the local partner of the steel mill, Simple Homes Development Corp., disclosed the mill’s initial operation by March this year.
The steel mill is formed by China’s three leading companies—Huili Fund, Baowu Steel Group Corp. Ltd. (China Baowu) and China Metallurgical Group Corp.’s subsidiary, CISDI Group Co. Ltd. (CISDI), the report said, quoting Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (Oro Chamber) President Robertino E. Pizarro. The latter is also the president and chief executive officer of Simple Homes Development Corp.
Pizarro said the Huili Integrated Steel Mill would generate 10,000 jobs in the first three years of its operation. The steel mill is worth $4 billion.
Just how big this operation is may be gleaned from its incorporators. China Baowu, for instance, currently ranks first in China and second in the world as the largest steel producer in the world measured by crude steel output, the Mindanao Daily said.
It said China Baowu was expected to apply its state-of-the-art, green and intelligent technology in this steel project.
The Mindanao Daily also disclosed that Malacañang has already warned local politicians “not to meddle in the construction of the $4-billion integrated steel facility,” citing a 2008 incident involving Hanjin Heavy Industries, a Korean shipbuilding conglomerate which the local newspaper said “has started building its $2-billion shipyard facility at the same site only to pack up later because of widespread corruption allegedly committed by local officials.”
The newspaper said: “The Crusade for Clean Government (CCG), a volunteer watchdog against corruption in government, has issued the same vigilance call of Malacañang to rid off irregularities in all transactions involving the mega project….”
CCG lead convener Ruffy Magbanua said there was a need to establish safety nets to ward off corrupt local officials messing up the fat investments of the country’s largest integrated steel mill ever to be built in Mindanao.
“For transparency, CCG will work in alliance with the Oro Chamber and other well-meaning business organizations to see to it that corruption is completely out in all transactions as the pet project of the President takes shape very soon,” the newspaper said, quoting Magbanua.
Open space, significant talks THE First Philippine Industrial Summit in Mindanao in November last year generated a list of highlights and important points from the Open Space discussions and the Significant Talks portion.
The Open Space discussion was able to draw 20 topics that were deliberated and expounded on by the delegates:
Multiply the geese that lay the golden eggs
Distinctiveness eliminates competition
How to attract more foreign direct investments to the Philippines
Pursuing sustainable tourism initiatives in the Philippines Philippines participating in the global Fourth Industrial Revolution
How customs brokers in the Philippines are being treated in the practice of their profession Inclusion of mental health (well-being) wellness in the public and private sector Investment opportunities Is the countryside ready for industrialization?
How to establish global future collaboration for research
Resilient power system and affordable power rates for Philippine industrial development Economic boom in Mindanao Agriculture is not yet fully developed; is it the right time to industrialize? Industry-academe partnership and collaboration
How to be competitive vis-àvis neighboring countries
Institutionalizing open space technology; the establishment of the innovation eco space
Economic zone for rural development
Philippine harbor pilotage services
Skills training and enhancement through distance and online mode of delivery
The second part, Quijano said, constituted the Significant Talks, and tackled the following topics by various speakers:
Industrialization in the countryside and Administrative Order 18 by Steel Asia chairman and CEO Benjamin O. Yao
Toward a globally competitive industrial sector by Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Sergio P. Ortiz-Luis
Build Build Build Program by San Miguel vice president Rodney Ralph D. Holmes
Long-term plans: industry-related communications and physical infrastructure by League of Municipalities of the Philippines President Mayor Luis Singson and by Department of Information and Communications Technology-Mindanao Cluster assistant regional director Frederick Amores
Green Buildings & Green Settlements by Italpinas Development Corp. chairman and CEO Architect Romulo V. Nati
Building Archipelagic Access by Philippine Ports Authority assistant general manager Hector Miole
Opportunities in Special Economic Zones by Ecozone Management Department Manager Emmanuel Cordero
Quijano said all these points were being processed and considered “urgent vis-à-vis the catch-up mode of the country toward the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
Go digital or go obsolete
THE presence of the industrialists in the summit may not reflect the entire community of tycoons, he said, “but somehow everyone would agree that the only thing forward is to go digital, otherwise go obsolete.”
“This would refocus their direction toward digital transformation of the industrialization,” he added.
“Of course, among the important roles of the government in this endeavor include the promulgation of enabling laws and policies that will promote technological advancement in all aspect of production activities,” he said.
Citizens’ participation should be encouraged as well in the scientific development, he added.
He said government programs and subsidies on research and development to state colleges and universities, science and technology society, relevant government agencies must be pursued and heightened to support the human resource and technological development.
To rev up development, the government must strengthen economic zones and establish more economic zones in the countryside.
For Mindanao, Quijano suggested widespread preparation, saying, “every location in Mindanao could be a prospective venue where industrialization can prosper.”
“Respective peculiarities of the areas can be the source of stimulation that will bring industrial growth,” he said, and pointed out that “giving opportunity to the Phividec Industrial Estate Misamis Oriental-Special Economic Zone to be a venue, this zone may pilot a smart industrial estate.”
At present, Quijano said the “international trend and the national leadership are creating a conducive environment for aggressive investments and economic undertakings in the country.”
“It is just a matter of time when the glorious days for industries in Mindanao will again flourish,” he said.