Officials note slowdown in Cagayan-Iligan corridor

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines — Manufacturing plants operating in the Cagayan-Iligan industrial corridor are struggling with reduced demand from foreign markets, prompting them to cut production or even stop operations temporarily, officials said in separate interviews Wednesday. All industries here are making adjustments to survive the deepening economic slump, Ma. Eliza A. Pabillore, Trade and Industry director for Misamis Oriental, said in a telephone interview. The regional Labor and Employment office, however, said it has yet to receive official reports on retrenchments. Labor Sec. Marianito D. Roque admitted last weekend that his department was grappling with a lack of timely, reliable data on affected workers that would enable the government to be proactive in its measures, saying that affected firms have not been informing the government promptly on this matter. "Maybe a few companies will have to temporarily stop production in the near term to be able to survive in the long run," said Ms. Pabillore. "But they will not have a permanent shutdown," she added. "Later this year, we are expecting the US and the European companies to rebound." Ms. Pabillore noted that some industrial plants have shut down for reasons other than reduced orders from overseas clients. In Jasaan town, for instance, Pilipinas Kao, Inc. which converts coconut oil into higher value products for export markets, undertook a maintenance shutdown for a month. The firm does this annually, Ms. Pabillore said. "They still have sufficient inventory of their products to fill [sic] market demand," said Ms. Pabillore. Work week cut Near Jasaan are the towns of Villanueva and Tagoloan, which host the Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corp. (Phividec) Industrial Estate. Nimfa Along-Albania, administrator of Phividec, said in a separate phone interview that no locator in the industrial estate has officially announced a shutdown. But she noted that there is an apparent slowdown in operations in the economic zone. "Our observation is there are companies that have slower production," Ms. Albania said. She said that while companies are in normal operations mode, some have already cut production days per month by as many as five. "They keep their regular employees, but maybe contractual workers will be on call at this time," she added. Ms. Albania noted the slowdown among Phividec locators started in November last year. Aside from Pilipinas Kao, major cement producer Holcim Philippines has also announced a temporary shutdown of its manufacturing plant in Lugait town, which is about a 20-minute drive from Iligan City. Aside from Holcim, the Cagayan-Iligan corridor also hosts two other cement plants, namely: those of Iligan Cement Corp. and of Mindanao Portland Cement Corp.