By Mike Baños
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY– Barely three months after the City Council approved its biggest project in the city’s uptown area, a pioneer investor surprised the growing metropolis with another project which promises to be a disruptive game changer, not only for the city, but for the entire Mindanao and Philippines as well.
In a simple ceremony held at a local hotel, the National Development Company (NDC) and the Investment & Capital Corporation of the Philippines (ICCP) Group, sister company of Pueblo de Oro (PDO), signed a Letter of Intent to erect a 5 tower luxury condominium, a 31-hectare (ha.) Silicon Valley type mixed-use area, and a World Trade Center within an expanded Pueblo de Oro Township.
Present during the signing were local officials led by Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Rolando Uy and City Councilor George Goking, NDC officials led by Usec. Antonilo DC. Mauricio, Asec. Alewijn Aidan K. Ong, and Asec. Leopoldo Acot, ICCP/PDO officials Rommel Leuterio, Prim Nolido, and Chrysler Acebu, and Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation Inc. (Oro Chamber) Pres. Avalyn Cahulogan, and Incoming President Almarco Brito.
ICCP Chair & CEO Guillermo Luchango, CDO Rolando Uy & NDC GM Usec. Antonilo DC. Mauricio link hands in solidarity during the LOI (CIO Photo)
Goking, who chairs the City Council’s committees on ways and means and trade and commerce, said this event arose from last year’s Investment Forum in Shangri-La Manila sponsored by Oro Chamber and City Hall’s Oro Trade Investments Promotions Center (Oro-TIPC) to entice investors to do business in the city.
Government’s Sign of Confidence
NDC and ICCP have long been partners in WTC Metro Manila (WTCMM), with the former being its largest single shareholder at 36% through the Manila Exposition Complex Inc., the company that developed and owns the facility, while the ICCP Group runs and controls it, and it’s been one of the very bright spots in the investments of NDC as a government company.
The planned WTC will be situated in a 31-hectare property at the crossroads of the new Laguindingan- Pueblo de Oro Diversion Road. The new development, dubbed Southridge, would emulate the vitality of California’s Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay area. Development has already started for the 5.2 hectare (ha.) residential portion of Southridge.
Southridge-Development-Project
“We’re very happy and honored to be with the top officials of the LGU, and the head of the ICCP Group, to give honor to Cagayan de Oro as one of the leading cities in the country for development,” said NDC General Manager Usec. Antonilo DC. Mauricio. “We’re very happy to be signing a Letter of Intent with such a credible group as ICCP which has a proven track record in delivering value to its stakeholders.”
Mauricio stressed how difficult it is for the government to partner with a private group and get approval for a project, since the NDC Board includes five cabinet secretaries (finance, energy, environment, budget, and DTI as chairman of NDC), the head of Bangko Sentral, Board of Investments Managing Head, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) Chairman, himself as NDC GM, and a private sector representative.
He stressed how NDC investments in any project, including this one in CDO with the ICCP Group, is a signal for other investors to come in. It de-risks their investment by having the assurance that the government is partnering. “I think Cagayan de Oro is ready to level up and the NDC is here to support, as a signal of government’s support,” he added.
Southridge Master Plan
The signing was done in Cagayan de Oro as part of NDC’s investment theme which conform to the five investment criteria: pioneering, developmental, sustainable, innovative, and inclusive.
It was the first time in more than 20 yrs. for the NDC GM to visit Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon, a signal for the importance NDC gives to this deal. Mauricio said most signings are usually done in Metro Manila, but now Metro Manila should come to Cagayan de Oro in order to see and feel the vibrance and potential for growth.
“We believe that the growth of the country lies outside Metro Manila. And to be more geographically inclusive, there will be increased growth from the provinces,” the NDC executive said.
NDC is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company by TUV SUD for equity investment, project financing, asset management, and support services. An ISO 9001:2015 certification is a reassurance of quality management systems and processes, and enables NDC’s stakeholders and the general public to continue to put its trust in NDC’s processes and procedures; its management and employees. This represents over 10 years of being ISO-certified and is a reflection of the key stable management processes and systems in place throughout the company.
PH Next Metropolitan Area
For his part, ICCP Group Chairman & CEO Guillermo D. Luchangco said the WTC aims to support Cagayan de Oro as the next metropolitan area of the Philippines.
“We are planning to bring in a World Trade Center like the one we have developed in Pasay City, Metro Manila. The significance of that is the branding. WTC is an association of over 330 WTCs throughout the world. It’s a brand name we’d like to bring to CDO which fits its role as an entrepot trading center. Our main target is to bring in international exhibitions. Sixty percent of exhibitions in the Philippines are held at the WTCMM. This is what will help the country grow. An exhibition hall is one of the keys to international trade,” Luchangco noted.
The vibrancy of Uptown CDO is evident in ongoing works at Pueblo Business Park (Trip ni Tonio)
It will be situated in an 1.6-2 ha. lot within Southridge, for which CallisonRTKL, a global architecture, planning, and design practice based in California, has already completed the master plan. Timeline is estimated at five years or less. It will have residential lots, with bigger portions for residential, offices, and retail areas with hotels and other amenities in adjacent areas.
Meanwhile, PDO has started work on its Masterson Mile North Towers, the company’s premier high-rise condominium project. Approved by the 20th City Council through City Ordinance No. 2024-515 on July 22, 2024, the project will feature five residential towers ranging from 22 to 26 floors with a total livable space of 11,649 square meters and 1,006 saleable units.
The upcoming landmark is designed by international architects Gensler of California, and Casas+Architects, a testament to Cagayan de Oro’s growth towards becoming a world-class urban center.
Barely two decades and nine years on [1990s to 2024], the Pueblo de Oro Township has grown into a self-sufficient 400-hectare township with no less than sixteen residential communities, a burgeoning business park, top educational institutions, world-class all-weather golf course designed by renowned architect Robert Trent Jones II, Cagayan de Oro’s first SM Mall, and a bevy of other business establishments that has made it a truly, self-sufficient central business district, leisure and sports hub in one.
World Trade Center
A World Trade Center is an apolitical organization that can be located in any country. It supplies businesses with access to international trade services and facilities, and seeks to simplify and stimulate trade by bringing together trade exhibitions that promote international trade.
Pueblo-de-Oro-Chairman-Guillermo-D.-Luchangco-presents-the-Masterson-Mile-North-Towers-project-during-the-CDO-Investment-Forum-at-EDSA-Shangri-La.-Oro-TIPC-1
Although WTC’s vary from country to country, they are all connected as a part of the World Trade Center Association (WTCA) based in New York City, the umbrella organization for over 330 World Trade Centers in more than 100 countries representing 750,000+ businesses. The Association stands outside politics across national boundaries, in service to those who develop and facilitate international trade.
WTCMM
World Trade Center Metro Manila (WTCMM) is an exhibition center located in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Since 1996, it has hosted events like the Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC); National Women’s Summit; and the 2019 Southeast Asian Games for fencing, karate, and wushu.
It is also home to several prestigious events such as Manila FAME, IFEX of Citem, PROPAK, WOFEX, WorldBex, Philconstuct, ADAS, Trucks and Logistics, Livestock, Agrilink and Auto Parts and Vehicle Expo, and a favored venue for corporate events as well as foreign concerts and other events.
Ongoing road projects in Uptown CDO (Trip ni Tonio)
A pioneer in the provision of world-class exhibition venue in the Philippines, WTCMM is an accredited member of the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) headquartered in New York City, USA. WTCMM is the first exhibition venue in the country to be managed by an ISO 9001:2008 company, Manila Exposition Complex, Inc., and the first to be recognized as a member of Union des Foires Internationales (UFI), the global association of the exhibition industry.
WTCMM also is an accredited MICE venue of the Department of Tourism (DOT) and Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), a member of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) and the Philippine Association of Convention Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers (PACEOS),
PH 4th Metropolitan Area
According to the Philippine Development Plan for 2023-2028, Cagayan de Oro is expected to be the Philippines’ fourth metropolitan area by 2025, based on its projected population growth, strategic location as gateway and logistics hub for Northern Mindanao, and role as a key education center in the south.
Two key infrastructure projects to decongest Uptown CDO (Trip ni Tonio)
In fact, metropolization has already begun as evidenced by the increasing share of Cagayan de Oro to the National GDP in 2022, already third behind the established metropolitan areas of Davao and Cebu.
“Metro Cagayan de Misamis to be the prime choice for investments,” said Regional Development Council Vice Chair and NEDA Region 10 Director Mylah Faye Aurora B. Cariño.
“People always choose the best option. Thus, Metro Cagayan de Misamis will be positioned not merely as an option or alternative to older metropolitan areas, but as the optimal choice given its enabling business environment, strategic location, resource endowments and potential, and skilled work force.”
Metro Cagayan de Misamis includes Cagayan de Oro City and El Salvador City, and 11 municipalities. Ten of these municipalities, namely, Alubijid, Claveria, Gitagum, Initao, Jasaan, Laguindingan, Libertad, Opol, Tagoloan, Villanueva are located in Misamis Oriental, and one, namely, Manolo Fortich is within Bukidnon.
CDO has risen to No. 6 in the 2024 Top 10 CMCI rankings for Highly Urbanized Cities
Meantime, Cagayan de Oro City as the capital city of Northern Mindanao continues to demonstrate exceptional progress achieving remarkable rankings across various pillars rising one rank higher from a year ago as the Top 6th Most Highly Urbanized City in the 2024 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI).
The city secured the Top 1 position in Resiliency, Top 6 in Innovation, Top 7 in Government Efficiency, Top 7 in Infrastructure, and Top 7 in the Most Improved category. Additionally, Cagayan de Oro moved up two spots in Economic Dynamism, now ranked Top 9 from 14th in 2023.
Northern Mindanao, or Region 10 (Camiguin, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte and Bukidnon, and the highly urbanized cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan), hosted around 3 million tourists annually just before the global pandemic in 2020. Although tourist arrivals dropped to 650,000 in 2020, it has bounced back to 2.5 million in 2023, according to the DOT-10.
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