On Tuesday, I will engage officials of the City of Bislig in Surigao del Sur in a virtual conference to explore ways of reviving the multi-billion paper mill, the Paper industries Corp. of the Philippines (PICOP) located in Bislig City, which at one time was acknowledged as the biggest in Southeast Asia.
Bislig City Mayor Florencio Garay will lead the LGU officials and members of the business community who will present options and ways of reviving and rehabilitating the pulp and paper processing facility established in the 1960s which shut down in 2006.
The operation of PICOP is one of the undertakings of MinDA in reviving and rehabilitating industries in Mindanao which collapsed because of economic difficulties, mismanagement, ill-advised and abrupt privatization and corruption.
The revival of the steel industry in Mindanao which was bannered by the National Steel Corporation in Iligan City since its establishment in 1952 is the other major undertaking of MinDA.
A study made by Reynante Casiro and Emmalyn Catubig of the Central Mindanao University described PICOP as a multi- billion-peso wood-based industry operating the only fully integrated pulp and paper mill in Southeast Asia in 1963.
“However, PICOP’s productive years was beleaguered by both external and internal problems— natural calamities; national economic and political instability; high fuel costs in the international market; unfavorable national market conditions due to market globalization; subtle effects of full privatization; emergence of poachers, smugglers and other unscrupulous illegal log buyers within PICOP’s areas of concessions; and the legal and environmental constraints, affected PICOP’s operation, production, and financial standing that forced PICOP to shut down in 2006,” the study said.
In my previous engagements with local officials of Bislig, corruption within the management of PICOP was also pointed out as one of the major causes of the facility’s collapse.
The Iligan City Steel Mill, on the other hand, is a story of economic difficulties and the apparent lack of resolve on the part of the national government to support a local industry which could have greatly contributed to the economic growth of the country.
“The Iligan Steel Mill was established in 1952 as a government-initiated project of the National Shipyards and Steel Corporation (NASSCO),” according to published reports and information.
“After NASSCO applied for a $62.3 million loan from the United States-based Eximbank to fund projects, the latter suggested a transfer of the facilities’ management to the private entity. The company was sold in 1963 to Iligan Integrated Steel Mills, Inc. of the Jacinto family,” the report added.
“In 1974, NASSCO assets were absorbed by newly incorporated National Steel Corporation. NSC was later acquired by Wing Tiek of the Malaysian Westmont Group in 1995,” the report said.
“NSC was severely affected by the 1997 Asian financial crisis which caused it to be unable to counter the dumping of cheap imported steel in the Philippine market. In 2000, the government ordered for NSC’s liquidation,” it added.
“The Iligan Steel Mill was acquired in 2004 by Ispat Industries Ltd of India. The company faced financial and labor issues, which led to the facility’s closure in 2009,” the report continued.
“The city government of Iligan has attempted to auction off the 400-hectare steel mill in 2016 but there were no interested bidders. The properties associated with the steel mill was then forfeited to the Iligan city government,” the report concluded.
Just like in the case of the Bislig City LGU, MinDA will also engage the City Government of Iligan to explore ways of reviving and rehabilitating this industry which processed local mineral resources and scrap irons provided jobs for the local people and propelled the economic growth of Mindanao.
While the task to revive and rehabilitate these two major industries appears to be gargantuan and difficult, MinDA will take up the challenge.
This will not be easy and it will not be quick but we have to start working on these projects now because if we don’t nobody will.
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
(Photos of PICOP and the Iligan Steel Mills were downloaded from public websites.)
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