Into the Sunlight

The Brito family-owned 18-hectare Sunlight Ecotourism Island Resort, located on Naglayan Island, Barangay Baldat, Culion, Palawan, is set to complete its estimated P5-billion expansion by next year. The expansion of its Salepan water villas will add 28 luxury villas to its existing 74 villas, according to Craig Ronquillo, resort manager, during a weekend visit by a select group of journalists invited by Pia de Villa, corporate marketing head of Sunlight Resorts.

Development of the Naglayan Island resort started in 2012 with the initial 74 water villas that were completed over a number of years, with the new expansion interrupted by the COVID pandemic.

The expansion, aside from the new luxury water villas, will include the installation of solar panels and a windmill that will help reduce the cost of the resort’s electricity expense by as much as 90 percent.

Additionally, according to the 32-year-old Craig, they are also constructing a 24/7 convenience store in the resort that will allow guests to buy imported snacks, drinks and other necessities that they might need during their stay, as the nearest town, Coron – where the Busuanga airport is located – is a 40- to 45-minute speedboat ride away.

The Brito family, led by its patriarch Ricardo Brito, initially made its mark in the retail and merchandising sector through its Unitop retail chain in the late 1990s.

The family-owned company, now known as the Unitop International Group of Companies, has expanded to 62 branches across the Philippines and has also diversified into 12 other industries, including hospitality through the Sunlight Hotels & Resorts, which includes Sunlight Hotel in Coron and Puerto Princesa and Casa Ricardo; commercial real estate through Ri-Rance; and industrial machinery through Uni-Tech, which imports China-made Gree appliances.

The Brito family also owns Sunlight Express Airways, which flies from Clark and Manila to Busuanga, Caticlan, Cebu, Coron, Panglao and Siargao. The boutique airline and aviation company, which has a fleet of three turboprop ATR 72-500s, is being run by Ricardo’s eldest daughter, Ryna Brito-Garcia, 29.

His second daughter, Radine, 25, manages the resort. His son, Rance, 23, who is part of a set of twins – the other being Rian, who is still finishing his studies – helps run Uni-Tech.

Thus, while Ricardo is still very much hands-on in overseeing the family’s various businesses, he has clearly delegated and put in place an orderly succession plan.

Island getaway

Our select group, which included co-Philippine STAR Lifestyle columnist Christine Dayrit, Edwin Galvez for People Asia magazine and Vanessa Hidalgo of Philippine Daily Inquirer, was fortunate enough to be invited to visit the island to preview the new villas still under various stages of construction.

Out of the 28 new villas, an initial 16 have already been completed, while 12 other villas are still under construction. The new Salepan Villas, which can cost up to P80,000 per day, are targeting a more upscale clientele that includes C-suite executives, foreign dignitaries and international and local celebrities. It provides 24-hour butler service, an exclusive dining experience and an individual water access to the coral reef fronting the island.

The reef is vibrant with colorful sea creatures, including juvenile blacktip reef sharks, juvenile barracudas, juvenile blue-spotted stingrays, jacks, pipefish, parrotfish and even rare sightings of dugongs, which are endemic to Palawan.

Visitors to Sunlight Resort don’t even really have to get into the water to see the variety of marine life; they can easily enjoy their whole stay in the privacy of their own water villas, which all have balconies and the premium villas have glass floors.

However, the Salepan Villas also offer the luxury amenity of having their own saltwater and glass floor jacuzzi – with vibrating water massage jets! Guests can also enjoy their whole stay in their villas, with open-air dining and a lounge area that look out to the other Calamian Islands group, of which Naglayan Island is part of, particularly the Culion barangay.

Furthermore, the Salepan luxury villas have their own roof deck for sunbathing, a private massage area and stargazing at night.

The resort also offers other amenities, including two freshwater swimming pools, a gym, a karaoke lounge that is located on the other side of the island so as not to disturb other guests and a variety of restaurants that offer Chinese, Korean and Japanese cuisine.

There is also a choice of live seafood that includes potato cod groupers, oysters, spider shells, locally called Kibao clams, blue crabs and mud crabs that are farmed in the pristine waters of the area.

They also offer their own island-brewed craft beers! Also under construction is a bowling facility for those rainy days when marine activities are curtailed.

Ric’s passion

The resort on Naglayan Island was developed after Ricardo, in his younger years, saw and fell in love with the island where he used to go camping.

It was quite apparent that even through all these years, the Brito patriarch still goes around the island, driving his own watercraft to view the progress of construction activities. In fact, we were able to briefly wave to him during our day-long visit to the Salepan Villas, where we were able to personally enjoy the amenities of one of the completed villas.

Aside from the island’s coral reef, it is also home to a variety of birds and endemic bayawak known sometimes as monitor lizards. A rich variety of plants and trees provides an added attraction for visitors.

Ricardo’s wife, Mimi, has also created a butterfly garden that at present is not easily accessible because of its earthen stairway access, which is quite slippery when it rains.

Sunlight Air, which is headed by daughter Ryna, was born out of her interest in starting an airline and aviation company that would complement the resort. Her feminine touch was quite obvious in the stylish cabin crew garbed in azure blue and white Filipiniana-inspired uniforms.

Peak season for the resort is normally during Holy Week and right after Christmas, when families and friends escape the city to spend the New Year holidays in a pollution-free getaway.

Aside from Sunlight Air, the resort can easily be serviced by other airlines that fly out of Cebu, Bohol, and Siargao, according to Pia.