Liloan, Compostela eye recla projects in 2009

Updated December 28, 2008 12:00 AM

CEBU – The municipalities of Liloan and Compostela are envisioning for the realization of their proposed reclamation project next year that will further encourage economic activities in their respective localities.

But the two towns still have to secure approval from the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) before they can start the construction of their projects.

Liloan Mayor Vincent Franco “Duke” Frasco said his town is asking the PRA to consider the construction of a reclamation project in Barangay Poblacion. The town council has already passed a resolution to that effect, he added.

Further, Frasco said that they have also passed a resolution to Remonde and to Ebdane to use the proposed 25.30-hectare reclamation project in his town as the exit point of the north coastal road, which is now under construction.

“As of the moment, the proposed exit point is in the front of San Fernando church and the municipal hall. With the amount of traffic in this three-point intersection, the DPWH has proposed to construct a flyover,” Frasco said in a text message sent to The Freeman.

However, the mayor said that a flyover in front of the church and the municipal hall “is simply unacceptable.”

He explained that the proposed reclamation of Liloan will provide enough space to construct another road where the north coastal road will exit and does not require the construction a flyover in front of their church and municipal hall.

“Essentially, it is less costly and no demolition of existing structures,” Frasco stressed.

He said he is hoping that the PRA will approve his town’s proposal in order for the municipality to dive up its economic activities and realize the town’s aim to become a city.

For his part, Compostela Mayor Ritchie Wagas said he had already presented the development plan and perspective of their planned project to Governor Gwendolyn Garcia during the latter’s visit to the town recently.

Wagas plans to ask the province’s assistance to secure a loan for the municipality to fund the proposed reclamation project.

Compostela’s proposed reclamation project, which is expected to cost less than P100 million, will be used as port for fishermen and other small vessels in the area.

The same project will be built in Barangay Poblacion in Compostela town right at the back of the old public market, Wagas added.

Wagas is determined to finish the project before his term ends because it is included in his 12-point agenda.

Wagas said the reclamation project will also set off with the Cebu North Road project, another route being constructed to provide alternative route to vehicles going to the northern part of Cebu from the metropolis.

The towns of Compostela and Liloan have been both upgraded to a first class municipality late this year. — Garry B. Lao/WAB (THE FREEMAN)

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In Real Estate Developments: Cebu to outperform other cities

By Ehda M. Dagooc Updated January 01, 2009 12:00 AM

While the rest of the Philippines is generally bracing for the worst to come in 2009, Cebu on the other hand is expected to emerge on top of the country’s other cities in terms of real estate developments.

Big developers will continue to keep an eye on potential properties to develop in Cebu. "Banks are lending again, and friendlier again, this allows developers to push for projects especially in Cebu in 2009," said CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc., chairman Rick Santos.

Aside from office building developments, more tourism-oriented projects are expected to rise in Cebu starting this year, despite the looming global recession that is seen to affect the Philippine economy in the middle of 2009.

Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala for his part said that the company is constantly looking at opportunities in Cebu, to build more projects, saying "there will be more to come."

Zobel said that with or without crisis, Cebu will continue to be a good area for ALI expansion, adding that more projects in both residential and commercial projects are coming.

Based on a study made by CB Richard Ellis Group, it bared that the number of residential condominiums is expected to rise starting 2009 as Cebu is now becoming a home to businessmen, expatriates, executives and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies, among others.

Developers, who are targeting the upper middle and high-end markets, see the need for building condominiums since the costs of properties, like house and lots in subdivisions, are rapidly increasing.

"There are more residential buildings in the pipeline, which are presumed to start construction in 2009," the study further revealed.

For his part, Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI) president Francis O. Monera said that although Cebu offers a tempting opportunity to speed up plans in pursuing residential and commercial projects in 2009, developers are also very careful in calibrating the Cebu market.

"We are not operating in a vacuum," Monera said, explaining that although Cebu economy in general is providing a positive economic outlook, it is also vulnerable to effects from the world's weak economic landscape.

CHI, one of the largest real estate developers in Cebu, is responsible for the existence of the posh Ayala Center Cebu, the 50-hectare Cebu Business Park, the 24-hectare Asia Town IT Park, and the luxurious sea-side subdivision called Amara in Lilo-an, northern Cebu.

Part of CHI's plan is to expand the accommodation of Asia Town IT Park and develop a BPO enclave through its subsidiary company Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corporation (CPVDC). Also in the pipeline is the completion of Ayala Center Cebu's final phase, which is to build another expansion of the shopping mall.

AboitizLand Inc., which is also into developments of residential and commercial projects, is also putting its plans in place for 2009, although intense caution is being adopted to find a good timing in the middle of global economic unrest.

AboitizLand Inc. president Andoni Aboitiz said the company has not turned off its radar, as it is always on the lookout for better opportunities in the coming years.

On the other hand, based on its market study result, CBRE revealed that industrial market in Cebu is expected to remain relatively inactive in 2009 citing global economic slump coupled with the slowdown in the local economy as main contributors of the weakening industrial market for next year.

"Local experts believe that the effects of the global economic crisis will begin to be strongly felt by the start of the second half of 2009," said Santos.

Santos, quoting the monthly integrated survey of selected industries of the National Statistics Office, said “for a year and a half now, the country's industrial output has been on a successive decline.”

He attributed the occupancy cost, including power, limits the entry of most multinational manufacturers to the Philippines.

On top of that, Santos echoed the general sentiment of local experts, saying the end of the crisis is still uncertain, which will leave most companies maintaining a "wait and see" stance in the months ahead.

However, Santos said that the CBRE-Philippines study showed that the industrial market is "more than prepared" to meet the requirements should the demand arise.

He said the different industrial parks in Cebu have adequate facilities and are very much capable of providing industrial space requirements of potential locators in the area.

"The upcoming infrastructure improvements in terms of transportation and power will make the industrial parks in the area even more attractive. The availability of skilled and qualified labor in Metro Cebu will also be one of the major selling points to potential locators," Santos said.

The prospect of attracting locators will be further enhanced by the greater economic stability of the local economy compared to neighboring cities and countries in Southeast Asia.

Santos noted that some industrial locators have pulled out from Vietnam and Indonesia and may consider relocating their activities in the Philippines, with Cebu, Clark and Subic as among of the major options.

Because of this development, Santos projected that developers will be forced to push on their planned projects this year, responding the increasing demand for office-space, housing needs, among others.

Meanwhile, the same study also found out that the market for residential resort complex developments is seen to go up in the coming years, and will kick off specifically in 2009, although interest of this market has started already in the last couple of years.

It emphasized that developers are targeting high-end markets as well as foreigners who are planning to settle in the area.

Developers also believe that the new program initiated by the Department of Tourism (DOT) dubbed "Live Your Dream" campaign, could also further boosts Cebu's real estate sector, as it has the qualities that foreign investors are looking for.

Filinvest Development Corporation head for sales and marketing in Visayas said that this new DOT campaign could generate fast sales turn-over of Cebu's real estate products, specifically condominiums, while Cebu is gaining popularity as one of the attractive sites for "vacation homes."

Through the DOT's "Live Your Dream, campaign, the agency is partnering with prestigious and giant developers in the country to push "investment tourism", inviting foreigners to buy vacation houses or condominium units in the Philippines.

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2009 is gloomy for labor sector

Updated January 01, 2009 12:00 AM

CEBU - The government, the labor sector, and the business sector were in unison that 2009 would be a gloomy year for the labor sector.

Businessman Robert Go, director of the Philippine Retailers Association, said that with the worldwide recession and economic crunch, there will be retrenchment in the export sector, especially in the furniture, house and gift industries that are exporting to the US and Europe.

Go said that even American companies at the Mactan Export Processing Zone will have more retrenchment of its workers.

He said that Japanese companies at MEPZ will slowdown their operations or have a three-day workweek as casuals will be laid off or regular employees may even be retrenched.

Go, who is also the past governor of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that Filipino workers going abroad will slowdown, including healthcare workers and nurses because USA’s small clinic and hospitals are having debt problems.

“Only food production serving locally will not be affected much but no expansion and no hiring of new workers,” said Go, who is also the former president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Go further said that unemployment will rise due to these factors and jobs will be scarce this year.

Sanlakas-Sugbo spokesperson Jose Aaron Pedrosa said that the global financial meltdown will provide the climate for social unrest owing not only to massive layoff of workers but also to the primacy that government would afford to favor capitalists to the detriment of labor and the poor.

Joy Lim, spokesperson of the Associated Labor Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, also said that 2009 would be gloomy and for labor.

“There will be massive retrenchment and daghan gyod mawad-an og trabaho. It is very sad for the workers and their respective families,” Lim added.

Mandaue City Vice Mayor Carlo Pontico Fortuna, who is the program manager and alternate chairman of the Tripartite Industrial Peace Council, said that they too are expecting retrenchment especially in the export-oriented industries like electronics, furniture apparel and even in the hotel industry.

“The possibility of labor unrest is there, although labor is aware that the economic slowdown is beyond the control of the business,” Fortuna said.

Go added that there won’t be much labor strikes either because plants will immediately close if there is labor unrest.

Lawyer Hidelito Pascual, management representative to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Region VII, said there will be more lay-offs than labor strikes. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)

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Discovery Group shelves expansion plans

By Marianne V. Go Updated November 20, 2008

The Discovery Group is adopting a “wait and see” stance on its expansion plans following the onset of a global recession.

According to hotelier Annabella Santos-Wisniewski who heads HSAI Raintree, a hotel management firm which is a partnership between the Tiu family and Wisniewski, the tourism and leisure industry is expecting a contraction next year as a consequence of the global recession.

In an interview with The STAR, Wisniewski, expressed “cautious optimism” that the Discovery Group would not be severely affected by the expected slowdown in the tourism and leisure industry as the hotel and resort group concentrates on the high-end market.

Wisniewski said the Discovery Group may hold off on its earlier announced expansion plans for additional hotels even though work on the Discovery Primea property along Ayala Avenue is proceeding.

He said the Tiu Family continues to negotiate with the banks for a loan of P3 billion to P5 billion.

“We’re surprised that while foreign banks have tightened credit, local banks are still accommodating,” Wisniewski said.

Wisniewski said the Discovery Group continues to remain on the lookout for “opportunistic investments.”

But with the expected recession, Wisniewski said the Discovery Group would “concentrate on internal matters.”

The Discovery Group had earlier announced plans of putting up a hotel in China next year aside from redeveloping the former Gilarmi Apartments into a high-end residential project to be known as Discovery Primea.

The group was also eyeing additional resort/hotel developments in Palawan and Bohol.

The Gilarmi Apartments was acquired by the Tiu family from the family of widowed former beauty queen Armi Kuusela-Hilario in 1990.

The Tiu family also owns the Mansion Group of hotels which include the Dakota Mansion in Malate, the Amorsolo Mansion, Mabini Mansion and Boulevard Mansion.  

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GMA signs EO 758 easing visa rules for investors

By Marvin Sy

President Arroyo has liberalized the rules on the issuance of non-immigrant visas to foreign investors as part of government efforts to generate more employment for Filipinos.The revised guidelines were contained in Executive Order No. 758, which the President signed yesterday in Malacañang.It was one of the rare occasions that the signing of an E.O. was done in public, in order to emphasize the significance of the order to the current economic condition in the country.

Government has been finding ways to pump prime the economy and protect the poor from the effects of the global financial crisis.

E.O. 758 was issued to promote job creation by allowing non-immigrants to stay in the country for an indefinite period for as long as they would invest money and provide employment for Filipinos.

Mrs. Arroyo cited the data of the National Statistics Office indicating that there are around 2.9 million Filipinos who are unemployed as of April 2008.

“Creation of job opportunities for the Filipino is one of the advocacies of the Arroyo administration under its 10-point agenda,” the EO stated.

The order paves the way for the relaxation of the rules for the issuance of non-immigrant visas to foreign traders to create more jobs in the country.

A special visa for employment generation (SVEG) would now be available for non-immigrants who are engaged in business or will be setting up business in the country.

Under the EO, the only requirement for the issuance of the SVEG is that the applicant should employ at least 10 Filipinos in a legitimate and sustainable business enterprise.

While the entry of foreigners to the country as well as the issuance of visas is covered by existing laws, the President has the power under Commonwealth Act No. 613 or the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940 to admit as non-immigrants, foreigners not otherwise provided for by the law, who are coming for a temporary period only, “when public interest so warrants.”

The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc. (Amcham) welcomed the issuance of the E.O. insofar as it would liberalize the restrictive laws of the country.

“It will bring in new technology and new capital. The country has a high unemployment rate so I’m delighted to see this happening,” said John Forbes, chairman of Amcham’s legislative committee. –

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