Megaworld's Iloilo Business Park breaks ground

Megaworld Corporation, the country’s #1 residential condominium and business process outsourcing (BPO) office developer, is set to break ground today, May 6, on its Iloilo Business Park project.

The company is setting aside P2.5 billion initially over the next two years to develop the road network within the 54.5-hectare IT park and for the construction of Richmonde Hotel Iloilo and Richmonde Tower plus two more BPO office towers within this time frame. The first retail component of the project, Festive Walk, will be completed in the latter part of 2012, after which Megaworld is set to invest more to bankroll the development until 2020.

The site of the project is the former Iloilo Airport, which Megaworld acquired from the National Government in 2007 for P1.2 billion in cash.

“With our groundbreaking rites today, we affirm the strong business prospects of Iloilo City and the Western Visayas region in particular. The Iloilo Business Park is an important component of the BPO triangle I am envisioning that will make the Philippines an exciting and thriving BPO destination worldwide,” noted Megaworld Chairman and CEO Andrew Tan.

BPO buildign render

“The Iloilo Business Park marks the second leg of our BPO triangle after our two cyberparks in Metro Manila, with the final leg to be launched in the next few years. Together, these will give BPO investors strong prospects not just based on location but the human resource component as well. Early on, we decided to launch our BPO presence here considering that Ilonggos naturally have a pleasant vocal tone, are highly educated and are very hardworking,” the business tycoon continued.

Jericho Go (1st VP), Rommel Orbigo (PR officer) and Kevin Tan (VP) of Megaworld Corporation.

The groundbreaking ceremonies for R ichmonde Hotel Iloilo and Richmonde Tower mark the first projects to be started within the Iloilo Business Park. The 12-story hotel will host 90 guest rooms, ranging from superior rooms to junior suites. Its seventh-level amenities deck features play amenities such as a lap pool, children’s pool and fitness center, while the business center on the same level will include meeting rooms and a conference room. Richmonde Hotel Iloilo is the third project of Megaworld under this hotel brand. The hotel is projected to serve businessmen and tourists who flock annually to witness Iloilo City’s historic and colorful festivals.

Richmonde Tower and Hotel

The Richmonde Tower will occupy the second to sixth floors of the hotel, offering more than 9,000 square meters of prime office space for BPO locators. Both projects are slated for completion within the next two years.

Since the Iloilo Business Park was granted a certification by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority as an information technology (IT) park in January 2010, BPO locators at Richmonde

Tower will be entitled to exclusive perks such as income tax holidays, duty-free importation of office equipment and repatriation of earnings, among others.

At 54.5 hectares, Iloilo Business Park is the largest IT park yet of publicly-listed Megaworld Corporation, the country’s #1 business process outsourcing (BPO) office landlord. The master plan for the entire community includes hotels, BPO office towers, a convention center, a skills training center and retail components. With its premium brands, affordable boutiques and al fresco dining areas for restaurants, the two-kilometer retail and dining strip of Festive Walk is expected to become the next hip hangout for Iloilo’s youth and a vital tourist spot.

With its strong Work-Play-Learn components, Megaworld is projecting that Iloilo Business Park will fill more than 24,000 seats for the BPO sector, whereas its retail component will infuse more than 200,000 square meters of space for the commercial sector. All in all, Megaworld expects to help create about 40,000 new jobs within Iloilo City, thus helping spur up the local economy.

More Groundbreaking Ceremonies Photos here. | See whole project plan here

Ultimate Ilonggo Favorite: KBL Kadyos, Baboy, Langka

K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region. Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of batwan and the malinamnam na sabaw . One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing.. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with the recipe below. Ingredients 1 kilo Pata (pork hocks) or pork cubes, GRILLED and sliced into bite size pieces 1 unripe Jack fruit, cubed 2 cups pigeon pea (kadyos) 6-8 pieces batwan fruit (or tamarind powder) 1 piece pork broth cube (

Takway

The gabi (taro) is just one of those plants which is edible from "roots to tops". The most popular of which is the tuber part which is used in a variety of dishes and mostly in combination with coconut milk. Its leaves, of course, is the main ingredient of a Bicol specialty, laing . It is dried then chopped and sauteed with other ingredients including, again, coconut milk. Then there is takway . The local term for its tendrils/runner, that part which is torn between being a stem or a root for it neither grows upwards nor downwards - it grows sideways . Scraped off of its outer skin, takway is often a key ingredient in vegetable dishes like laswa and the gabi tuber with coconut milk and local snails know as bago-ngon . It is also popular when cooked adobo style with guinamos , the local bago-ong . It is very popular in the region that even big supermarkets sell takway in style - cleaned and plastic wrapped in styro with some additions to make it easier to prepare.

An Ilonggo favorite - Valenciana

Found in almost all occasions like fiesta, birthdays, reunions and others, Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in special gatherings at home. A complete " go, grow and glow " dish because it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful, Valenciana is really an " occasional dish ". Here's the recipe for Valenciana

Easy Century Tuna Recipes

If you're looking for simple, easy and delicious Century Tuna recipes online, congratulations, you've found it right here! How about spicy tuna sisig or tuna sinigang ? Maybe stir fried tuna with pickles or just yang chow fried rice . I love Century Tuna from its flakes in oil variety, the spicier the better, but when I discovered the versatility of its solid variant, it became an obsession. At first I was just into the usual tested recipes; pasta and sandwich filling, but then it got simpler – I just eat it straight from the can! Usually with a piece of bread or an apple. I just add a few drops of vinegar to spice it up a bit. Then came the experiments. Yup I got tired of that habit that one day, I decided to test my skills in the kitchen. Serendipity, you might call it yet most of them turned into good recipes that I have shared now and then. Satisfying my Palabok cravings had me experiment on this recipe on the spot. With Century Tuna in lieu of the usu

An Ilonggo favorite - Suman Latik

Suman Latik is one of my favorite native delicacies - plain suman/ibos topped with sweetened coconut strips or bukayo . Most of the time those sold in the markets have this two (suman and bukayo) already in one wrap and all you have to to is devour it. But most of the time, the bukayo portion is bitin that I wish there's more. So why not make our own suman latik so you can have all the suman we want with all the bukayo toppings we desire! Here's a simple recipe for Suman Latik

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Search This Blog