Standard of giving
In the business sector, they say that the domestic market for construction materials is now a seller’s market, and it will still be a seller’s market in the next few years.
What it means to us down here is that, simply, the prices of construction materials are bound to increase. Probably, there goes your dream house!
Anyway, evident in the past 10 years or so was the construction boom in urban centers all over the country, fueled by the construction of residential and office buildings, not to mention gigantic malls and commercial centers.
The thing is that, at least in the business sector, they are saying that the boom is still gaining a lot of force, as the standard of living in this country is expected to improve steadily in the next few decades.
Ordinarily, the expected high demand for construction materials is good news for the economy.
The only problem is that our country does not really have the industrial capacity to meet such a sudden strong surge in demand.
The obvious solution therefore is importation, and it is expected to be massive importation. The implication of massive importation, at least to those manufacturing construction materials, can only be…well, similarly massive smuggling.
For instance, there has been a flood of imported ceramic tiles in the country in the past several years, with groups like the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) having documented cases of massive smuggling of the item.
The situation forced the local tile manufacturers to petition the government to install safeguard measures against “dumping” of ceramic tiles from China and Thailand, basically asking for the imposition of punitive (i.e. higher) import duties.
But the business sector now seems to be divided on the approach it must take in fighting the anticipated smuggling of construction materials, particularly billions of pesos worth of steel products.
One line of thought goes that those traditional “safeguard” measures—meaning, higher duties and taxes—actually work against local industries, because the measures only added more incentives to smuggling.
Really now, the higher the import duties and taxes are, the more reason the importers will have to avoid them, which is really what smuggling is all about.
And so according to those groups, the better approach can only be the strict implementation by the government of “product standards,” such as through the certification issued by the Bureau of Product Standards of the DTI.
Come to think of it, boss: Did anybody in the government bother to check why many structures in the Visayas withstood the wrath of Yolanda and the strong earthquake, while others collapsed instantly, many of which were government projects?
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The high-end real estate firm of the Ayala group, Ayala Land Premier, which is under listed ALI (Ayala Land), just unveiled the latest addition to the group’s first 470-hectare leisure project at Subic Bay in Bataan: the Anvaya Cove Golf and Sports Club.
From what I have gathered, the golf course and sports club would finally complete the phased development of the Anvaya Cove leisure project of the group, to be topped by the opening of gym facilities, game rooms and sports courts in just a couple of months.
In fact, Ayala Land Premier held a rather exclusive golf tournament a few days ago for members and “chosen” guests that was, of course, attended by ALI chair Fernando Zobel de Ayala and ALI president and CEO Tony Aquino.
The 82-hectare, 18-hole, 7,200-yard, par-72, all weather championship golf course owes its scenic design to the California-based company called Golfplan, which also designed various golf courses in some 60 countries, including the Sentosa golf course in Singapore.
According to Ayala Land Premier boss Jose Juan Jugo, the front-nine of the golf course is called the “Mountain Nine,” because of the peaks and ridges of the mountain part of the project, with a view of mountain ranges in the two provinces of Zambales and Bataan.
The back nine of the course took the official name of ‘Seaside Nine,’ according to Jugo, because its layout combines panoramic sea views and nature preserves.
But the question really is this: What is in it for non-golfers?
Actually, Ayala Land Premier has been marketing the Anvaya Cove project as a assortment of leisure activities, such as the Anvaya Cove Beach and Nature Club with its multi-purpose function rooms; the recreational beach areas with its Water Sports Pavilion and the Pawikan Bar and Grill; and the swimming pool complex with an infinity pool, lounge pool and lap pool; and the nature camp trails.
Before we forget, the real money-maker in the Anvaya Cove project—at least to its developer, the Ayala group—are the residential communities that the group wove into the unique lay of the land, taking advantage of the views of the mountain and the sea.
Between us girls, I found a 900-square-meter lot in one of the subdivisions in Anvaya Cove for only P23 million, and this fantastic price was actually advertised way back in 2011. You can just imagine the appreciation with the opening of the golf course.
