The visit was full of surprises. The women, who had not been in a cement facility before, had visions of cement dust darkening the air. There were particles of dust in the air, true, but the grey atmosphere about us was fog – at noontime. We went inside the office building where computers monitored the burning of limestone, clay and iron ore in a kiln, and we were told, with 40 percent of the fuel and governed by temperature, heating rate, burning rate and cooling rate, clinkerization occurs at 1350 to 1400 degrees centigrade, forming material into small, dark gray nodules of 3-4 centimeters in diameter which are made to flow out into reciprocating coolers and cooled by quenching air from 1200 degrees centigrade to 100 degrees centigrade. The clinker is transported to the storage silo and gypsum is added to it in definite proportions to control the setting time of the final product – cement. The materials are then ground in a ball mill to the desired fineness and stored in cement silos.
According to CEMEX officials, in 1997, CEMEX entered Asia, through the Philippines, by buying into Rizal Cement. Two years later, CEMEX Philippines Group of Companies (CEMEX Philippines) bought into APO Cement Corporation whose plant is based in Cebu, making them the second largest cement producer in the country. Under the Philippines Group of Companies’ wing are APO Cement’s plant in Naga, Cebu; Solid Cement’s plant in Antipolo, Rizal; Rizal Cement’s plant in Binangonan, Rizal; CEMEX Concrete’s batching plant in Muntinlupa City, Island Quarry and Aggregates Corporation, and APO Land and Quarry Corporation.
Both companies also received their ISO 9002 certifications for quality management systems in August 1999 and in February 2000. Recently, CEMEX Concrete’s Muntinlupa-based batching plant received its ISO 9002. These certifications are vital proofs of recognition of the CEMEX group of companies’ meeting the highest international operation and management standards.
The most widely acclaimed project of APO Cement is its 2001 donation of ten personal computers to the Naga National High School. Also, it inked a memorandum of agreement with the high school, the local government of Naga under Mayor Ferdinand Chiong, and the Philippine Business for Social Progress for the construction of a computer lab for the computer students. The project is to be completed this month.
For out-of-school youth, the company, in cooperation with the government’s Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, offers vocational, technical and livelihood training programs. These are aimed at keeping them away from drugs and other bad habits, and providing income-generating opportunities for the unemployed through livelihood training.
In the field of health, CEMEX conducts medical missions in both APO and Solid plants, serving the medical and/or dental needs of the communities surrounding the plants as well as the families of plant personnel.
Other notable features found in the Naga and Solid Cement communities are Roman Catholic chapels. What we saw in Naga were testimonials to the organizing skills of CEMEX’s corporate communication director, Juris Soliman. These are the chapel, a gymnasium, an all-purpose hall (housing among others, a livelihood-training room, the Ladies’ Club room, a medical clinic and a body-fitness room). Juris says the tennis court beside the gymnasium is the oldest in the Visayas, and we agree with her that it should be considered a landmark by the National Historical Commission.
Juris points further to CEMEX Concrete’s community projects. The company donates concrete to various streets and pathways in Cebu, cement and anti-bacterial concrete to construction projects in Pembo, Makati and the Elsie Gachies Village in Muntinlupa. Rizal Cement, a member of the CEMZ Philippines group of companies, has donated a squatter relocation site in Binangonan, Rizal.
The whole-day’s excursion was satisfying, convincing us newspaperwomen that there are companies which make money but have a heart, too.
Highlight of the reunion is the PDE national lecture that will discuss "The Global Environment and the Prospects for the Philippine Economy." Dr. Dante B. Canlas, NEDA secretary, Dr. Cielito Habito, professor, Ateneo de Manila University and president of the Philippine Economic Society, and Peter Wallace, president of the Economic Intelligence Unit, will be the main speakers.
Pakito Yeneza is head of the reunion’s organizing committee. PDE alumni may call Rose San Pascual at tel nos. 920-5481 and 927-9686. Or call the PDE office at tel. 920-5481.