Rafaelito Barino, chairman of the Duros Group of Companies, offically opens the company’s asphalt batching plant on Friday, February 8, in San Isidro, Sta. Fe, Leyte. | Cris Evert Lato-Ruffolo
STA. FE, Leyte — Cebu-based company, Duros Development Corporation, has invested P150 million for an asphalt batching plant and equipment units in the neighboring province of Leyte marking the company’s second stationary plant outside of Cebu.
The company has an existing concrete plant in Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte.
“In Cebu, our main problem is in the sourcing of aggregates. Here (in Leyte), we are standing in (a place where there is) substantial necessary raw materials for our infrastructure,” said Rafaelito Barino, chairman of the Duros Group of Companies.
During the plant launching on Friday, February 8, Barino said the growth of Duros had been in line with the national government’s “Build, Build, Build” program, which had been designed to modernize the infrastructure backbone of the Philippines.
Barino said they decided to set up the plant in Sta. Fe, Leyte as the town had been the main source of construction aggregates, the principal component of an asphalt concrete pavement.
“I believe that the road networks here in Leyte is much better than any other roads in the Visayas because aggregates here have a specific quality which is good for the roads,” added Barino.
A total of 150 new jobs are created because of the plant. These include those working in the plant itself and those who are on field.
The plant has a total capacity of 80 tons per hour.
It is located in Sitio Pulak, Barangay San Isidro in the town of Sta. Fe, Leyte. Sta. Fe is located 15 kilometers or 30 minutes from Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City.
Duros Development Corporation has opened an asphalt batching plant in Barangay San Isidro, Sta. Fe town in Leyte. | Photo by Cris Evert Lato-Ruffolo
Barino said the current manpower had been composed of Cebu-trained and local employees.
They will train more people in the local community so they will have jobs within their barangay.
Allan Sevilla, barangay captain of San Isidro Labrador, said they welcomed the presence of the plant in the community as this would improve the local economy.
“Malaki ang contribution nito sa aming barangay para naman to sa ikabubuti ng mga taga dito,” he told CDN Digital.
(This plant has a major contribution in our village. This is for the good of the people in our community.)
Sevilla said the locals also hoped to be trained and employed in the plant so their place of work would not be far from their homes.
Barangay San Isidro Labrador, which has a population of more than 2,000 individuals, is one of the 20 villages of Sta. Fe town.
Agriculture is the main source of income in San Isidro Labrador. Main agricultural products are rice, sweet corn and eggplant.
Barino said the company’s first road asphalting project in Region 8 or the Eastern Visayas region started in Allen, Samar in 2016.
The newly-opened asphalt batching plant will serve the needs of the provinces of Samar and Leyte.
In Cebu, Duros operates two concrete plants in the towns of Medellin and Liloan; and an asphalt batching plant in Liloan. /dbs