MINDANAO DAILY TRUTH | JUSTICE | PROGRESS
Volume IX, No. 382
www.mindanaodailynews.com
Fri-Sat, January 15-16, 2021
P15.00
NSC revival gets green light By RUEL V. PELONE Managing Editor
ILIGAN CITY— IIigan City Mayor Celso Regencia has fired up the green light to proceed with the country’s first €5-B ultramodern integrated steel mill to replace the defunct National Steel Corporation following a landmark virtual meeting held here today with a foreign investment group and its local representatives Dante Sudaria and Ruffy Magbanua of the Mindanao Daily News Network. Earlier, the investors’ group had forged a technical partnership with a steel company from Europe for the construction of the stateof-the-art Integrated Steel Mill to rise at the same site of the mothballed National Steel Corporation. “We are bullish with the development to reconstruct the defunct NSC as this would place Iligan City See REVIVAL, page 11
NDRRMC: LGUs may procure Covid-19 vaccine MANILA - Citing the documentary bases on emergency responses, an official of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) believes that the local government units may be allowed to utilize their local Quick Response Funds (QRF) to procure vaccines against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), provided that such inoculants are approved by the Food and Drug Authority (FDA). Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado has previously said that he would leave it to the
NDRRMC to determine whether or not local governments could use their 30% QRF to purchase COVID-19 vaccines. In an interview on Thursday, NDRRMC Executive Director Ricardo Jalad said that three legal documents are already in place supporting decisions of LGUs to do so, including the Republic Act 10121. “Sa legal basis na paggamit ng QRF as provided for by RA 10121, sinasabi diyan na ang Quick Response Fund ay standby
Investors’ representives Dante Sudaria President and CEO of Mindanao Daily and BusinessWeek newspapers and Ruffy Magbanua VP for Business Development in a virtual zoom meeting with Iligan City Mayor Celso Regencia and Iligan City Councilor Demy Plando for the revival of the defunct National Steel Corporation.
LGUs urged to reopen borders to buses plying Mindanao routes, LTFRB-10 says By GERRY LEE GORIT Correspondent
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Some local governments in Mindanao have been requested by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-10 (LTFRB-10) to lift travel restrictions in their borders so inter-regional buses could resume their operations.
LTFRB-10 regional director Aminoden Guro said the reopening could boost local businesses as goods and services could go in and out in areas in spite of the quarantine protocols being set to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. He said that among the local government units that still disallow buses to enter Guro
See VACCINE, page 11
The mayor reiterates his assurance during Wednesday noon’s press briefing after disclosing that he had a conversation with (Court of Appeals Mindanao Executive) Justice Romy Borja who voiced his concern over the city’s vaccine rollout program. (CIO)
their borders are Zamboanga, Cotabato, and General Santos City. Guro said that although it is the discretion of local leaders to close their borders to inter-regional buses, the national inter-agency task force may intervene if it deems that the areas that are very strict in allowing See BORDERS, page 11
Moreno: Careful planning in CDO’s vaccine rollout CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Jan. 14 (PIA)--The people of Cagayan de Oro need not fear that they will be left behind by other cities in the vaccine rollout since their City Hall is ‘on the ball’ in mapping out the city’s vaccination program, Mayor Oscar Moreno said. “Ang gusto nako mahibaw-an sa (katawhan sa Cagayan de Oro), ayaw
kabalaka kay (I want to tell the people of Cagayan de Oro, don’t be worried because) we in City Hall are very much on top of the ball. In fact our target and mission is maayo ang pagkaplano sa atong vaccine rollout sa dakbayan (to ensure the proper planning and implementation of our vaccine rollout See CAREFUL, page 11