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THE Lucio Tan group is looking at the possibility of expanding its
hotel business in Palawan where it already has presence through its
mining concern, MacroAsia Corp.
Joseph T. Chua, MacroAsia president and chief
executive, said the group is looking at the prospect of putting up a
resort-hotel in the island that is famed for its pristine beaches
and excellent diving sites.
Chua said the group would be taking advantage of
its presence in the province and explore areas that it can develop
as “the next Boracay,” pertaining to the world-famous
island-resort that has been drawing thousands of tourists each year.
At present, the group owns and operates the
500-room Century Park Hotel in Manila through Maranaw Hotels and
Resorts Corp. and several luxury hotels in mainland China and Hong
Kong under the brand name Eton.
Eton Properties Philippines Inc. is also
embarking on a leisure-retirement project in a 34-hecatre property
in Mactan, Cebu. Studies on this are still being conducted, the real
estate firm said.
Also in the pipeline is a resort-hotel within a
cluster of medium-rise residential condominium buildings around a
man-made lake and golf-course in its biggest project to date called
Eton City in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
Chua said MacroAsia is exploring its mine sites
in Palawan and is studying options to build a “world-class mining
operation” and make it sustainable. He said that countries like
Australia and New Zealand have successful mining industries side by
side with their growing eco-tourism industry.
MacroAsia has exploration permits for an
aggregate 28,000 hectares in different parts of the country. Chua
said the company is open to joint ventures with other world-class
companies for any of its mining projects.
MacroAsia signed an accord with London-listed
Toledo Mining Corp. last year to jointly develop nickel projects in
Brooke’s Point in Palawan. Both firms are conducting feasibility
studies on their adjacent nickel project sites. MacroAsia holds
exclusive rights to explore and develop nickel, chromite, iron and
other mineral deposits in the 1,114-hectare area.
Part of the plan is building a nickel smelting
and refinery plant within its mining tenements after exploration in
the area have yielded positive results. The plant would allow the
company to process its products and sell these at a higher value,
MacroAsia said earlier.
Chua said the company would initially have to
directly ship its nickel ore to Australia, China and Japan.
Plans for spinning off its mining arm have yet
to firm up, and remains one of the options for raising funds through
an initial public sale of its shares. The company has earmarked P50
million in seed money for its mining venture, which would mainly
come from internally generated funds.
-- Likha C. Cuevas-Miel
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