Gatchalians to pour more investments in Mindanao

DAVAO CITY — The Wellex Group of Companies, owned by the family of "plastics king" William Gatchalian, is eyeing the expansion of its operations in Mindanao despite the peace and order problems currently besetting the island.

"The current peace and order problem brought by the Abu Sayyaf rebels could be a temporary setback but it would not deter us from investing in other areas in Mindanao," said Sherwin Gatchalian, the 27-year-old son of the elder Gatchalian, who was recently elected as congressman of Valenzuela, Metro Manila.

The Gatchalians reopened last Tuesday the Waterfront Insular Davao Hotel after closing it for six months due to low occupancy.

The young Gatchalian said that aside from Davao City, the Wellex Group is also looking into possible investments in the cities of Zamboanga and Cagayan de Oro.

"But at the moment, we will be concentrating on Davao City first with the reopening of the Waterfront Hotel. Later, we will be moving on to other areas," he told The STAR during the hotel’s reopening.

The Wellex Group reportedly set aside at least P50 million for the renovation and refurbishing of the Waterfront Insular Davao Hotel.

The Gatchalians acquired the Insular Hotel from the Zobel de Ayala family in December 1999, but decided to suspend operations after barely 10 months reportedly due to low revenues.

However, the young Gatchalian said their company is no longer interested in acquiring the P3.1-billion Samal Island Casino Resort, owned by the Malaysian conglomerate Ekran Berhad.

"We are no longer looking at it because we do not think the property has the potential, considering the long time for tourists to get there after landing at the Davao airport," he said.

The Gatchalians were also reported to have eyed the purchase of a 4,000-hectare banana plantation in the Davao del Sur towns of Sta. Maria and Malita, but plans were put on hold last year after the Wellex Corp. suffered financial setbacks.