The Philippine steel industry

Steel Association. In 2021, our country imported 7.2 million tons of steel from top steel producing countries such as China, India, Japan, and South Korea, among others. Steel is such an essential component in ensuring that infrastructures are framed and designed to endure time, weather and stress, hence the importance of reviving the steel industry in the country to meet the increasing demands of urbanization and development.

“Participating were 20 bands, colorful coaches of various civic organizations, delegations from surrounding towns and provinces in cars, horsedriven carromatas and calesas. The majority, however, went on foot and endured the hot September sun. An estimated 50,000 to 60,000 people, a large crowd at that time, congregated in Balintawak,” the newspaper report added.

That was the start of the yearly celebration of the “Cry of Balintawak” every Aug. 26 until the event was formally replaced with the “Cry of Pugad Lawin” and the date was changed to Aug. 23.

The “Cry” of Pugad Lawin or Balintawak was considered as the beginning of the Philippine Revolution against more than 300 years of Spanish occupation in 1896. It was the initial move of the Filipinos to begin the revolution for independence. They did this by tearing up their

On May 12, 1962, then President Diosdado P. Macapagal signed Republic Act No. 4166 setting the date of Philippine Independence on June 12 instead of July 4, the date when the United States government granted self-rule to the Filipinos in 1946.

Even today, the Quezon City government, in partnership with the nationwide civic organization Pugad Lawin Philippines, Inc. (PLPI), continues to observe the “Cry of Pugad Lawin” anniversary every Aug. 23.

(He began his journalistic career by contributing to the Liwayway and Bulaklak magazines in the 1960’s. He was the night editor of the Philippine News Service when Martial Law was declared in September 1972. When the Philippine News Agency was organized in March 1973, he was named national news editor because of his news wire service experience.

He retired as executive news editor in 2003. He also served as executive editor of the Malacanang-based Presidential News Desk from 1993 to 1996 and from 2005 to 2008.)

Infrastructure development is the backbone of industrialization. The establishment of structures and facilities that drive economic activities is essential to the success of our thrusts towards national inclusive growth and develop- ment. In constructing bridges, buildings, roads, and other infrastructures that steer industrialization, steel is always an essential raw material.

The Philippines ranks 20th in the list of major importers of steel according to the World

We recall in the 1960s to the 1970s, the Philippines was at par with Taiwan, South Korea and Japan in steel products development because we had a thriving steel industry back then. The car industry in the country was then emerging with the development of various car models such as the Isuzu Harabas, Volkswagen Sakbayan, Toyota Tamaraw and the Mitsubishi Cimarron. There were even locally made home appliances produced by Radiowealth and Zenith. Where have all these brand names gone? Answer is: They have all died and vanished along with the Philippine steel industry we never realized would be critically important in our shared pursuit of progress.

The National Steel Corporation which used to be in Iligan City in the Province of Lanao del Norte used to be the lifeblood that sustained the Philippine steel industry. When the corporation closed in 1999 despite several attempts to revive the steel industry in the coun- try, infrastructure development suffered setbacks and delays as demand continued to rise but supply of steel was scarce.

NSC’s demise was caused by smuggling, corruption, lack of government support, and wrong policy decisions on privatization. The country then had to resort to importing steel in order not to stall infrastructure development, with projects and programs already in the pipeline.

Industrialization is inevitable and irreversible. If we are to truly advance inclusive growth through infrastructure development, then we should seriously consider rebuilding and strengthening our steel industry.