BIZ BUZZ: Marcos connection
MANILA, Philippines – Not a few were surprised when they saw the elusive Gregorio Ma. “Greggy” Araneta, head of gaming firm PhilWeb Corp., at the signing of the landmark partnership agreement between the Marriott Group and the team behind the award-winning The Farm at San Benito in Batangas.
That the brother-in-law of President Marcos occupied a seat at the table for VIPs—with Alliance Global Group chief executive Kevin Tan and first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos—can be attributed to the little-known fact that it was Araneta who had encouraged the CG Group founded by Binod Chaudhary, Nepal’s richest man, to invest in the Philippines and take a majority position in The Farm at San Benito.
Informed Biz Buzz sources shared that the friendship between the Chaudharys and the Marcoses had grown over the years to the point that Mr. Marcos was even an honored guest at the wedding of Binod’s son Rahul, the current managing director of CG Corp Global and CG Hospitality Global.
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This thus makes the agreement for Marriott “to bring the world to The Farm and The Farm to the world” that much more significant for both professional and personal reasons.
Under the agreement forged last week, The Farm at San Benito will be upgraded to become a part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection that caters to discriminating travelers with deep pockets.
Soon, The Farm will feature one-bedroom villas and exclusive two- and four-bedroom private pool villas.
The resort is also expected to feature a swimming pool with a pool bar, a fully equipped fitness center and a high-end spa and medical wellness center—setting a benchmark for next-generation wellness hospitality in the region. —Tina Arceo-Dumlao
Seeing green
The teams of the Zobel family and billionaire Manuel V. Pangilinan are working together again, this time for a project all the way in Palawan province.
With El Nido’s reputation as a tourist hot spot, you may be thinking that the collaboration involves a new property.
Well, not exactly.
Ayala Land Leisure Estates and Metro Pacific Agro Ventures (MPAV) are actually developing an advanced greenhouse facility within Lio Estate, dubbed an eco-tourism haven.
“Our vision for Lio Estate has always centered on sustainability and community integration,” Ayala Land Leisure Estates group head Cris Zuluaga said in a statement on Tuesday.
The greenhouse—one of the newest ventures of MPAV—will have a 100,000-kilogram capacity and provide fresh, locally grown produce to Lio Estate’s establishments: Seda Lio, Huni and The El Nido Resorts.
For their part, MPAV president and CEO Jovy Hernandez said the project allowed for “cutting-edge farming techniques” and sustainable agriculture to reach “remote locations.”
This is a quick expansion for MPAV, which recently launched the largest greenhouse in Bulacan province.
We’ll keep an eye out for fresh vegetables that could sprout in other tourist spots, too. —Meg J. Adonis
Give P20/kg rice project a chance
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has appealed to skeptics to give the P20 a kilo rice project a chance to succeed for the sake of Filipino consumers.
In a recent press briefing, Tiu Laurel lamented that certain individuals were mixing toxic politics into the program that fulfills Mr. Marcos’ campaign promise to bring down rice prices.
“For me, my request is that they support it so that the implementation is smooth and everyone will benefit from this whatever political side you’re on. I’m not a politician so I don’t really care,” he said.
“Sana iwasan iyong fake news, iyong paninira. Huwag sanang sabotahin itong program na ito dahil makikinabang naman dito iyong taong bayan,” Tiu Laurel said.
(Let’s avoid fake news and slander. Let’s not sabotage this program because the Filipino people will benefit from it.)
Earlier, Tiu Laurel disclosed that the entire Department of Agriculture family was “deeply hurt” by Vice President Sara Duterte’s remarks on the quality of National Food Authority (NFA) rice to be sold under the project.
“Saying that the rice that NFA distributes is animal feed is an affront to the quality of rice our millions of hardworking farmers produce. This is false,” Tiu Laurel had said.—Jordeene B. Lagare INQ
