Bowling in the barrios

There’s probably a basketball court in every barangay in the country. What few people know, however, is that bowling, a sport where Filipinos have proven to be globally competitive, is slowly getting support at the grass roots.

A proponent of bowling as a community sport is Filipinas Bowling Corp. chairman Francisco Catibayan. He is advocating the establishment of two- to four- lane centers in every town. FBC has been in the business of selling, installing, and servicing bowling lanes and equipment for the last 30 years.

"Our market is not only in the Philippines but throughout the world . And our international business has the potential to become even bigger than our local operations," said chief executive officer Francisco Catibayan III.

FBC has successfully bid for and completed projects in Hong Kong for 40 lanes, Taiwan for 300 lanes, Poland for a nine-lane and a two-lane center; and Bangladesh for six lanes. The company also exports skills and technology, while making use of local labor. Delivery of equipment for international projects averages 30 days while installation, depending on the complexity of the bowling center, takes 60 days or less.

Value-added services

"We practically offer the A to Z of bowling management and installation. We can design the building itself and the interiors. We can provide other complementary facilities such as billiards and video games. We can train them on how to operate the machines as well as how to run the business itself," said Catibayan.

To meet the different budgets of customers, FBC has a flexible price range, depending on whether the equipment are brand new or reconditioned and whether the lanes are made of maple wood or pineboard.

"Our prices are very competitive because we’re a very lean organization, with about 10 employees including ourselves (Catibayan family members). We subcontract the installation part of the business. And we are not exclusive to any foreign suppliers so we are free to source the equipment and find the best price for our customers," said Catibayan.

As a result, the company can deliver and install a tenpin lane with brand new automatic pinsetters for 20% to 30% lower than its nearest competitor. Fully reconditioned pinsetters for tenpin that go with refurbished lanes are priced 60% less than the brand-new counterparts. A similar reconditioned and refurbished set for duckpin is priced at P400,000 per lane while manual duckpin set-ups go for less than P200,000 per lane.

"We are unique in offering convertible lanes. Duckpin and tenpin lanes are identical in every way–only the pins and the balls are different. Hence, convertible packages need two sets of automatic pinsetters if the bowling center is not going for the manual option," he said.

Demand

For sheer pleasure, however, it is the bowling-deprived Philippine towns that bring in the most return.

Recently, Mayor Jesse Mendigorin of Cabangan, Zambales had two duckpin lanes installed beside a basketball court. The place is always full.

FBC supplied eight lanes for Cosmic Lanes in Naga City, supposedly the first tenpin bowling center in Bicol. It is set to complete a seven-lane center in Marawi City this week. And by the end of this month, a joint venture with Fit Mart Mall in Koronadal, South Cotabato with 20 duckpin lanes and eight tenpin lanes will open.

"There is a demand for bowling centers. The market is ready. And businessmen who are investing now can ride on the good opportunities going forward," he said.