The start of investors’ entry into Iloilo

Bad weather prevented me from attending the first Iloilo Investment Forum at Sarabia Manor Hotel and Convention Center last weekend. But I immediately noticed the electric buoyancy among local officials, particularly Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas and Gov. Niel Tupas.

That forum gave them a jolting piece of news – the promise of the Lopezes, through Benpres Holdings chairman Oscar Lopez, of potential investments in Iloilo to “give back something of ourselves and our companies to our native province (that) would help jumpstart the economy here.”

The impact of that forum was electrifying. But it contrasted with the developments in Bacolod City where the Sangguniang Panglungsod tackled the move to take over the management of the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. (Bredco) port.

This move, which councilor Dindo Ramos claimed have been declared “in order” after consultations in Manila, is definitely going to set back Bacolod’s move to invite outside investments and may provoke a lengthy court process.

Simplicio Palanca, Bredco chairman, told me the other day that he would fight the move in court to “clear his name.”

Jack Maalat, Bredco’s legal counsel, said his group has long prepared themselves for a protracted legal fight, pointing out that Bredco is covered by a contract with the city and is under the Public Estates Authority.

Anyway, that’s an aside from the infectious pre-Christmas excitement that has gripped Ilonggos with the prospects of Iloilo recaptivating its preeminence as the Queen City of the South.

Oscar Lopez held up the possibility of the Lopez group building a shipyard as a potential investment in the city.

In effect, the Lopezes may handle the reconstruction of old ships and conversion of salvaged parts into steel products.

Another welcome news was the report that DMCI Holdings Inc. of the Consunji family will put up a 100-megawatt, coal-fired power plant in Iloilo. But that contravenes an earlier announcement by Mayor Treñas that a local coal-powered plant will be set up soon in Iloilo with a 40-megawatt capacity.

The proposed local coal-powered plant in Iloilo will have a capacity of 164 megawatts.

What is important, the forum opened the eyes of Ilonggos to the potentials of the 54-hectare Megaworld Corp. development plan to attract investors.

The property developer recently won the award of the former Iloilo airport in Mandurriao.

Megaworld plans to put up hotels and a convention center, skills development facilities and residential units on the sprawling property.

Although Oscar Lopez bared plans by First Gen. Corp. consortium to bid for the Palimpinon-Dingle generation package, this comes after the award to them of 60 percent of PNOC-EDC  holdings.

This calls for the generation package of the 192.5-MW Palimpinon geothermal plant in Valencia, Negros Oriental and the 146.5-MW diesel-powered plant in Dingle, Iloilo.

Nanette Guadelquiver of the Visayan Daily STAR quoted Lopez as declaring that First Gen. Corp. would like to reverse the residue deployment of power from Negros to more power to Panay to make sure that it gets the cheapest power in Western Visayas.

The bidding is being questioned by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and may encounter some difficulties in the near future.

But that has not stopped Ilonggos from hoping that the Lopezes, now having determined that they intend to invest in Iloilo, will spur a scramble for outside investments in the region, especially Iloilo City and the province.

Thus, while Iloilo is fast catching up with development, the latest events in Bacolod may set back its bid to attract more outside investors into the city with the prospect of a prolonged court litigation over the major attraction of the city – the Bredco port and the reclaimed area which now boasts the SM Bacolod mall and a host of buildings.

The activation of the Bredco port has also helped boost the economic boom of the city.

Well, as they say, instead of helping private business, it seems that Bacolod officials are bent more on undercutting what the private sector has already done – providing the infrastructure needed to attract outside investors.