IDC eyes P1-B furniture village in Aurora

CASIGURAN, Aurora — A Filipino company engaged in wood manufacturing and other wood-based industries is eyeing the establishment of a P1-billion furniture village which could potentially generate at least 6,700 jobs in the northern municipalities of this calamity-devastated province.

The Industries Development Corp. (IDC), which operates a sawmill here, is seeking to establish the furniture village in the tri-boundaries of the so-called Dicadi area comprising the northern towns of Dilasag, Casiguran and Dinalungan.

‘Michael John Ong, IDC vice president, said that based on preliminary studies for the furniture village, the project could generate investments of P1.1 billion and employ 6,751 jobs in the Dicadi area. The IDC, he said, will provide the raw materials for the downstream manufacturing of the village which will produce doors, furniture, moldings, LVL, plywood, veneer, wooden toys and accessories.

He said IDC intends to utilize the maximum potential of raw materials on a sustainable basis, adding that the project, once fully operational, could generate an income of roughly P3.1 billion per year.

The IDC operates wood manufacturing facilities, consisting of sawmill in this town, which has the widest residual forest among the three towns. It also has a furniture manufacturing facility in Pasig City.

Considered one of the most vertically integrated wood-based companies in the country, the company holds two Integrated Forest Management Agreements (IFMA) granted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources covering 57,168 hectares.

The IDC belongs to a consortium of wood companies under the IDC group of companies that also includes the Mejore Woodworks Inc. (MWI) , the MGCK and Ellen Roberts and Josol. IDC is engaged in forestry operations, lumber manufacturing and veneer manufacturing. MWI and MGCK are both into furniture manufacturing while Joson is into door manufacturing.

The consortium employs 1,830 employes, has a monthly payroll of P11.3 million and generates revenues worth P82.5 million a month. It maintains a fleet of equipment worth P650 million and has shipments of 60 containers and 75 10-wheeler trucks per month.

Ong said that the establishment of the furniture village will tremendously solve the unemployment problem in Dicadi. The area, which has a population of 45,846, accounts for 132,757 hectares of land area and 110,228.14 hectares of forest cover.

According to the National Statistics Office (NSO), the unemployment rate in Dicadi stands at 18.2 percent based on the latest census. Due to the lack of employment opportunities, villagers are forced to seek jobs in the uplands, which poses harm to the environment.

Ong said that the opening of a furniture village has inherent advantages, such as lower cost of raw material and cheaper handling cost. — Manny Galvez