NSC plans to resume operations

National Steel Corp. plans to resume operations and lease out its steel mill to a little-known foreign group identified only as Allengoal Steel Mills, prompting the company’s creditors to express alarm over the possible outcome of the ongoing liquidation.

NSC’s creditors said in a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the company’s Malaysian stockholders have appointed new members to the board of directors and elected new officers that plan to take over the operations of the defunct company.

The steering committee of NSC creditors reported that the new board of directors and officers plan to take over the operations of the company and their topmost concern is to revive the plant by leasing it out to Allengoal.

SEC officials said they knew nothing of the election of new NSC officers, but had begun investigating the reports. Thus far, the commission said the ongoing liquidation process remains in a standstill after NSC’s liquidator, former SEC associate commissioner Danilo Concepcion, failed to meet the deadline for the submission of the liquidation plan.

According to the SEC, Concepcion merely allowed the deadline to lapse without submitting the liquidation plan and did not even request for an extension to indicate that he was planning to actually submit a liquidation plan for NSC.

NSC creditors have made representations to SEC Chairman Lilia R. Bautista saying that they intended to exercise their approving right in connection with any plan to lease any of NSC facilities.

The letter sent to Bautista was signed by the steering committee of NSC creditors led by Marc Meauleau, senior country officer of Credit Agricole Indosuez, Edward Go, executive director of Global Business Bank, Alfonso Cruz Jr., executive vice president of the Land Bank of the Philippines, Danilo Castro, senior vice president of the Philippine National Bank and Arsenio Severino, vice president of Equitable PCI Bank.

"We would like to put on record that NSC is under liquidation and thus under the direct control and supervision of the SEC through the liquidator," the banks said in the letter. "There could not be any controlling body other than the SEC through the appointed liquidator while the liquidation is ongoing."

The banks urged the SEC to "take steps" to protect the interest of creditors, saying that the commission should also ensure that no unauthorized parties are granted access to any NSC property.

Under the standing order of the SEC, the banks said any lease of the facilities of NSC would require the approval of creditors and they said they had every intention of exercising this right.