With the confirmed deaths of the Maute brothers and Isnilon Hapilon, the war for Marawi may indeed be on its final gasps.
Even as we congratulate government, particularly our valiant soldiers and policemen who suffered numerous casualties in the long-drawn battles to recapture a large portion of Marawi, we rue the fact that so much damage has been wrought by the villainous siege of the IS-inspired terrorists.
Tourism was greatly affected. Even if on the whole visitor arrivals from China increased due to the thaw in the previously icy-cold relationship between our countries, significant drops were seen in travelers from other countries, principally for fear of safety and security owing to the Marawi war.
We have a sad story to tell on account of Marawi.
In August last year, we started enticing a Taiwan conglomerate to invest in the Philippines, particularly in Mindanao. Specifically, we wanted them to put up a plant to produce carbon steel and stainless steel, and the proposed site was a 300-hectare area owned by Phividec in the municipalities of Tagoloan and Villanueva in Misamis Oriental.
They were quite enthusiastic, especially since the Philippines is one of the world’s major producers of nickel, which is the main ingredient in making steel “stainless.” They would source iron ore from Australia, which is relatively near Mindanao. Their other option was Indonesia, which like us, is a main producer of nickel.
On the third week of September 2016, their executives and engineers visited the Phividec site and were very positive about the location. It had a deep sea harbor, adequate electricity, with three power plants as source, the Tagoloan River for water requirements, and flat terrain.
The projected plant would mean an investment of some 2.1 billion US dollars and hire close to 8,000 for construction and some 3,000 direct labor when operational. If they started building in 2017, the plant would have been operational by 2021.
Negotiations had started for the long-term lease of the land. Some complications ensued because the old board of the Phividec, composed mostly of retired military officers looked at the project more as a real estate deal instead of putting a premium on its economic value, as well as the downstream industries it would eventually engage, stainless steel being an important component in construction, as in the manufacture of appliances, kitchen equipment, and flatware.
The economic managers and the President enthusiastically supported the proposed project, even to the extent of appointing a new Phividec management which would support the proposal.
Meanwhile, the Taiwanese conglomerate decided to divide the project, with the less environmentally-objectionable part in Indonesia and the environmentally-acceptable part in Mindanao. It would mean a lesser investment, some 1.4 billion, but aside from still being substantial, we were looking at the downstream industries, which would employ more.
Then in late May, Marawi was “invaded” by the terrorists. Three weeks after, together with DTI and DOF officials, we assured the conglomerate that Marawi was 140 kilometers away from Phividec, and that the battles would soon be over. But by that time, we could sense a reluctance, with some of their top executives saying quite frankly that “they don’t want to die too early.” The fear was palpable.
A follow-up visit in early October with the new executives of Phividec, and with the war in Marawi almost ended, was again for naught.
It was too good an investment opportunity to lose.
The war against the terrorists who besieged Marawi and held on for months and months on end may soon be over, with the ringleaders dead and more than a hundred hostages saved, but the damage done to the economy has been tremendous.
And the cost of reconstruction would be quite expensive, running to some 8 to 10 billion pesos.
Why is it that just when we were turning the tide against the factors that made us an investment laggard in this part of the world, something terrible happens, like Marawi?
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Last Monday, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that effective the first of November, it is lifting its entry visa requirement for Filipinos on a trial basis ending July 31 next year, subject to review before the deadline.
This has been a much-anticipated move since they announced the plan as early as June this year, subject to the final concurrence of other agencies.
Taiwan hopes that more and more Filipinos would visit their very green and beautiful island where the food is excellent and the shopping cheaper than Hong Kong, and is less than two hours away from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. In fact, if flights are eventually opened between Kaohsiung, its southern city with an international airport and Laoag in Ilocos Norte, or Lal-lo in Cagayan, the trip would take only 40 minutes.
From January to July this year, a total of 161,303 Filipinos visited Taiwan, which represented an increase of 73.5 percent over the same period in 2016, with 92,967 visitor arrivals.
On the other hand, Taiwanese visiting the Philippines had already increased by 24 percent in the first five months of 2017 compared to the same period last year. But Marawi changed the momentum of increase, with a sharp decline in the months of June, July and August, corresponding to the school vacation months in Taiwan when young people would often come to enjoy the sun, sand and sea of our islands.