‘It’s high time for Cebu to build integrated retirement facilities’

CEBU, Philippines - "Now is the right time to build integrated retirement villages," this is the announcement made by the officials of Cebu Health and Wellness Council (CHWC) yesterday.

The availability of world-class hospitals, which can take care of the needs for retirees, as well as increasing number of service providers in this segment, and the natural tropical and tourist-savvy charm of Cebu is seen to magnify the interest of retirees from different nationalities around the world, said Nelia F. Navarro, CHWC convenor.

Likewise, CHWC founding board member Patria Aurora Roa said that although Cebu had been attracting retirees, who are now living in condominiums with Filipina girlfriends or wives, some are settling in the countryside, it is now the right time to build an integrated and retirement village to put Cebu in the map as one of the world's desirable retirement havens.

Aside from the requirements imposed by the government through the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) in building a legitimate retirement facility, developers are encouraged to identify their respective niche market in promoting such facility.

 Roa said the Japanese for instance, who are one of the most active markets for retirement villages, should be given specialized and appropriate services and amenities that suit the Japanese' culture and lifestyle, including the availability of Japanese-speaking service providers.

 "They [developers] just have to hit the requirements of their target markets," said Roa in an interview yesterday adding that Cebu as an "all-in-one" destination doesn't have a problem in attracting these foreign retirees, but availability of right and world-class retirement villages could pull up Cebu’s charm as retirees' haven in Asia.

Navarro, who is also the director of the Department of Trade and Indstry-Cebu Provincial Office (DTI-CPO), added that retirees can do a lot of things in Cebu, such as exploring and emerging in Cebu's interesting culture, adventures, beach, cuisines, among others.

PRA announced that the government will aggressively promote the country as a retirement destination for the world’s retirees. It is now focusing on the country’s leading source countries such as China, South Korea, and Japan.

 Some developers in Cebu already announced their plans to set up legitimate retirement communities in Cebu that will be made available to the market in the short term.

"There is a growing number of active foreign retirees who are seeking for good retirement properties in the Philippines, and Cebu is one of their top favorites, especially Japanese, " said Duros Land Properties Inc., chairman Rafaelito Barino.

 Barino's company will spend about P4 billion to build a five-hectare retirement village in Lilo-an, Cebu.

Singaporean developer, Syntech Properties, Inc., has already started developing the 37-hectare Retirement Village in Balamban, Cebu. (FREEMAN)