MANILA, Philippines – Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) of the Gotianun family is investing heavily on its projects in Clark which the company sees as the country’s next big metropolis.
“We foresee that Metro Manila is going to be congested. We don’t have a choice because it (Clark) is there already. The government doesn’t have to spend much money anymore. What we simply have to do is to connect it (to Metro Manila),” FLI president Josephine Gotianun-Yap said in an interview following the company’s annual stockholders meeting.
FLI bagged recently two large government deals in Clark. The first is the right to co-develop a 288–hectare parcel in Clark Green City with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) which it won in September last year.
The other is the right to lease, develop and manage the former Mimosa Leisure Estate in Pampanga that was awarded by Clark Development Corp. to the company last January.
Gotianun-Yap said FLI plans to invest P5 billion over the next five years for the development of the Mimosa Leisure Estate.
The estate is an existing 202-hectare resort development with two operating golf courses, one operating hotel, and more than 100 villas.
Gotianun-Yap said the company would start works this year “to bring the property into a higher level.”
“With around 50 hectares of free space, the property can further be enhanced to expand and meet the growing demand of the Clark Freeport,” she said.
For the Clark Green City parcel, Gotianun-Yap said the company has yet to determine investments needed for its development as access roads to the city are still being built.
She noted, however, that the property is being eyed as a mixed-use project composed of industrial, residential and commercial components.
The 288–hectare parcel forms part of the 9,450-hectare Clark Green City envisioned as the country’s first smart, green, and disaster-resilient metropolis.
With its upcoming projects in Clark, Gotianun-Yap said the Filinvest Group is also willing to participate in the possible privatization of the Clark International Airport.
“We believe in the growth of the Clark-Subic corridor and the inevitable role of Clark International Airport given the overburden capacity of Metro Manila’s NAIA airport,” she said.
FLI has earmarked P20 billion for its capital expenditures this year, higher than the P17 billion budget last year.