Lanao Norte residents to get most jobs for P7.3-B bridge

TUBOD, Lanao del Norte - Residents of this province will be the first to take advantage of job opportunities resulting from the PhP7.3-billion Panguil Bay Bridge (PBB) project.

Tubod Mayor Leoncio Bagol made the assurance as he and local and national officials attended the ground-breaking ceremony of the bridge project on Wednesday.

"We have been waiting for this for so long.  We consider this bridge a big help to our farmers in bringing their products to Ozamiz where they market their products," Bagol said.

President Rodrigo Duterte led the ground-breaking ceremony for the bridge, which would connect this town and the rest of Lanao del Norte to the Misamis Occidental and the City of Ozamiz.

Funded by the Korean Economic Development Cooperation Agreement through the Korean Export-Import Bank, the Panguil Bay bridge will be the longest bridge in the country at a length of 2.360 km.

It will have approach roads of 1.412 km, and two lanes each measuring 15 meters.  Construction is set to begin in January.

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar said manpower accounts for at least 30 percent of the bridge's total budget. 

"Mag-recruit talaga (ng mga workers) from the area, malaki ang employment na ma-generate ng project na ito (We will recruit workers from the area, and the project will generate a lot of jobs)," Villar said.

He added that event the employees of the shipping lines plying the Tangub-Ozamiz route will be prioritized for work in the PBB construction.

In his speech, Duterte thanked the Republic of Korea for funding the project, saying he considers it as Korea's gift to the Filipinos.


"Korea has a special attachment to the Filipino people.  You know why?  We fought in the Korean war and a lot of Filipinos died," he said. 

The President noted that the bridge will shorten trips from Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City to the cities of Ozamiz, Oroquieta, Dipolog, and Dapitan.

The faster flow of goods, he said, will undoutedly improve both the local and regional economies. [Divina Suson, Ercel Maandig and Richel Umel, PNA]

Philippine Sanjia Steel Corp. to invest Php800-M for steel manufacturing plant in Tagoloan

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY - Another Chinese firm is planning to put up an P800-million steel manufacturing plant in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.

PHILIPPINE SANJIA STEEL CORPORATION, which is engaged in processing of raw materials into steel products including construction steel, industrial steel, angle iron and beam channel products, is eyeing a 47-hectare area in Barangay Baluarte, of which 22.6 hectares is within PHIVIDEC Industrial Estate.

PHIVIDEC Industrial Authority administrator and CEO Atty. Franklin M. Quijano led the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and witnessed by the Sanjia executives and other Phividec officials.

Quijano said the project will require only some 150 employees for the first-three years of operation.  After three years of its operation, however, employment is expected to rise to 300 personnel, Quijano elaborated.

The term of the contract will run for 25 years, renewable for another 25 years at the option of the parties.

Atty. Franklin M. Quijano clarified that Sanjia Steel Corp. is different from Panhua Group's plant, which is an Integrated Steel Mill which produces steel slabs from the raw materials.  Sanjia, meanwhile, processes the slabs into steel beams. 

The Panhua Group's plant is a $3.5-billion investment which consists of a port, a 10-million ton capacity integrated steel mill, an industrial park and other downstream industries which will be implemented in three phases and would generate some 50,000 jobs. [CDODev.Com]

Iligan to answer call of China steel plant's labor needs

ILIGAN CITY - Iligan City Lone District Representative Frederick Siao committed on Friday to mobilize his constituents for the provision of skilled and technical manpower needed for the $3.5 billion integrated steel plant Chinese investors intend to build near his district.

Panhua Group Co. Ltd. to invest $3.5 billion in Mindanao steel factory

MANILA - Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said Panhua Group Co. Ltd., of China will set up a 305-hectare integrated steel manufacturing plant at the Phividec Industrial Estate of the Misamis Oriental-Special Economic Zone in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.

Iligan mayor files complaint vs Region 10 police director

Regencia and the city council withdrew its support for the city police office, and took back all the patrol cars that the local government had "entrusted" to them for their use.

ILIGAN CITY - City Mayor Celso Gomera Regencia bared plans to file a complaint against Philippine National Police (PNP) Region 10 Director Chief Supt. Timoteo G. Pacleb before the Office of the Ombudsman for grave abuse of authority for ordering the relief of former Iligan City Police Director Sr. Supt. Manuel Sukarno Alvarez.