A meeting with Tieza officials in Cebu

We welcome the assumption of former Rep. Ruffy Biazon as head of the Bureau of Customs (BoC), replacing the highly-controversial Angelito Alvarez who as we said so many times before, was a square peg in a round hole. I personally know Ruffy Biazon when I interviewed him on my TV show during the election campaign of 2010 and voted for him because of his clean track record. We wish him well and hope that henceforth, things will change for the better in the Bureau of Customs.

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Last Sept. 2nd, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) held a roadshow at the Waterfront Hotel with tourism stakeholders in order to hear TIEZA officials led by Atty. Joy Bulauitan, deputy general manager for administration and Atty. Guiller B. Asido, corporate secretary talk about the mission and vision of TIEZA, which was created by the Tourism Act of 2009. TIEZA is the entity that took over the defunct Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) which in my book was the most inutile amongst all government agencies. Unfortunately, TIEZA Chief Operating Officer (COO) Mark Lapid did not attend that roadshow.

By law TIEZA is mandated to be on top of all Tourism related businesses or sites that are classified as potential tourism zones, which ranges from historical sites, health farms, spas, golf parks, resorts, theme parks, convention or meeting centers and even restaurants. There are incentives for an investor who would plunk in a minimum of $5 million in a Tourism enterprise like a resort hotel, that’s about P200 plus million that few Filipinos can afford to invest. It meant that TIEZA would be seeking only foreign investors who avail of those incentives.

During the open forum, Mr. Javier Quintos of Plantation Bay asked the TIEZA officials if there were any incentives for Tourism facilities that are already helping our tourism industry. Apparently there were none, which perhaps the TIEZA board ought to look into and come up with some kind of incentives for those already operating as tourism establishments... after all their air-conditioning or kitchen equipment needs refurbishing or they need new tourism buses or coaches.

The TIEZA officials also talked about my pet peeve called the Kang-Irag Golf course in the mountains of Busay, Cebu City where we used to have a playable 18-hole golf course designed by Black Knight, a company owned by South African golfing great Gary Player. The only things it needed were cemented cart paths and a clubhouse. But development abruptly stopped because of the EDSA Revolt 25 years ago. Then the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) sequestered the companies run by Anos Fonacier and suddenly, the PTA found themselves operating a golf course that they had no idea of managing.

It didn’t take long for PTA officials to immediately get rid of the Kang-Irag golf course and awarded it to Mr. Jose Go of Gotesco Properties and Gotesco Land, Inc. whose plan was to develop a 36-hole golf course, which meant that they would erase the existing 18-hole golf course. We pleaded with Mr. Go to destroy only the first nine holes and when they came up with the new 18-hole golf course, they could destroy the rest to pave the way for the next 18-hole golf course. But Mr. Go did not care to listen and destroyed the entire Kang-Irag golf course. He never came up with a single hole at all!

Atty. Guiller Asido emailed me a report from the Supreme Court that showed the PTA won its case against Gotesco and TIEZA is now in control of the Kang-Irag land. I also learned that two groups have shown interest in getting what’s left of the Kang-Irag golf course. The Gotesco deal was very disadvantageous to the government; Gotesco ought to pay for the golf course.

I care about this issue simply because too many Cebuanos have been conned into investing in failed golf course projects. Most notable of all is the Kang-Irag Golf Development, the Royal Heights Golf course, the Coral Reef in Mactan, the Casa del Mar in San Remigio and one in the town of Barili and the Green Island course in Badian. Now the ball is with TIEZA to show some transparency, after all, they must embrace “Tuwid na Daan” principle espoused by the Aquino administration.

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Finally, the DPWH found a way to solve the traffic congestion in Metro Manila with that P20 billion plan to put a road on top of EDSA from Roxas Blvd to the Balintawak exchange. It is a grand plan indeed, which will solve the traffic problem at least in the next 10 years. Here in Cebu City, we are fighting tooth and nail over two flyovers which have been endorsed by the RDC in the last six years. Alas, Cebu only gets a few crumbs, while Metro Manila gets their cake and gets to eat it too!

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