ILIGAN CITY - Five members of a family were killed and three others hurt in a fire that gutted at least 12 houses in Iligan City, Monday, October 29, 2018. Iligan City Fire Officer 1 Janica Kissey Acain identified the fatalities as Elizabeth Baricuatro and her four sons Francis, Jethan, Nathaniel, and Xander. Fire investigators revealed that the fire broke out at about 3:29 a.m. at a residential compound in Barangay Maria Cristina, this city. Those injured during the fire were identified as Rowela Noro (with first-degree burns), JieJie Tiongco (first-degree burns), and Philam dela Cerna (second-degree burns).
Acain said that the estimated damage caused by fire was at P250,000.00. Firefighters placed the fire that reached the third alarm under control at about 4:21 a.m., she added. Fire investigators said that the father of the family, who is a seaman, was in Manila during the fire for his scheduled deployment flight. The investigation into the cause of fire, was believed to be caused by an unattended gadget. [Mariz Revales, GMA News Online]
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (25 Oct 2018) - Chinese steel conglomerate Panhua Group is asking the government for better lease terms on a 300-hectare property within the Phividec Industrial Estate in Misamis Oriental for a proposed $3.5-billion integrated steel manufacturing plant. Philippine Economic Zone Authority director-general Charito Plaza said Panhua was one of the Chinese companies seeking to relocate to the Philippines to escape the high tariff imposed by the US on China-made products. Plaza said locators in China and Vietnam were enjoying incentives, such as the low lease for the first 25 years on top of affordable power cost and other subsidies. She said to make up for the high power rates in the Philippines, Panhua was asking for lower rental rates. PEZA already reduced Panhua's rent to P40 per square meters from P150, but the Chinese firm wanted a further reduction. Panhua proposed to produce ten types of steel products in its Mindanao plant for the local and export markets. Plaza said PEZA was also reviewing the proposals of three Chinese investors who were interested to relocate to the Philippines. "This is due in part to the trade war between China and the US with soaring tariffs for products traded between these nations," she said. PEZA expressed concern that the proposed Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities, or 'Trabaho bill', might affect the companies' desire to relocate to the Philippines. She said the Trabaho bill would dramatically alter the current set of incentives given to foreign investors. [Othel V. Campos, Manila Standard.net]
BALI, Indonesia - President Rodrigo Roa Duterte addresses his fellow Heads of State/Government in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders' Gathering at the Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort in Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, October 11, 2018.
ILIGAN CITY - Two Iligan City-based rice traders, one of them a Taiwanese national, were arrested yesterday by a composite government team for alleged hoarding of 40,000 bags of rice and charged with hoarding, involvement in cartel operations and profiteering.
