“NVESTORS” in Metro Manila are said to be buying up land in the sleepy coastal town of San Vicente, in the land of promise, Palawan.

In fact, one of them is the more enthusiastic gung-ho aggressive real estate developer in the country today. Take a bow, Pareng Andres!

The going rate for raw beach-front property—that is “raw” land—from what I heard, is now an amazing P2,000 per square meter.

That is already more than the price of developed residential lots in most parts of greater Metro Manila. I said “developed” land. It is ready for home construction anytime.

In San Vicente, however, at least from what I have seen during a recent visit there, all the interest seems to be centered on land speculation. Bigtime!

Rumor has it that just a hectare of raw land in the sleepy town recently fetched for a cool P20 million.

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And what does the sleepy San Vicente have?

Well it has a long stretch of beach, said to be more than 10 kilometers long, and it also has… well, that’s it.

I could not use even a makeshift bathroom or toilet anywhere in or near the beach. No hotels. No resorts. No restaurants. Nothing.

As I said, there is only raw land, pure and simple. The land speculators surely are only hoping to sell what they are buying now at much higher prices later.

I am not sure that is the right way to develop the area into a tourism magnet similar to Boracay—or even Bohol.

For today in San Vicente, it’s all so far just a real estate play.

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Part of the game is an international airport that this cute administration of Gloriaetta just might build in a town that has yet nothing going for it.

Moreover, the government has already acquired the land from the local people in the town—at a cheap price of … well, P3.50 per square meter in some parts.

Although construction of the runway has started, the roads servicing the future airport would probably take some time in coming.

There is a lot of grumbling in the province regarding the San Vicente airport. You see, some people in Palawan are questioning the economics of it.

Local officials there are not buying the idea of another airport only a couple of hours drive from the capital, Puerto Princesa, which has a new international airport.

One good thing about the airport construction however is that it serves to attract the real estate speculators, este, “investors” pala.

Thus, the biggest beneficiaries of the government-sponsored airport project are still just the big landowners in the town. Nice compromise!

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An ugly fight is now erupting from the real estate game in San Vicente, involving the provincial government, which is known for its environmental programs, and a private company apparently backed up by the San Vicente municipal government.

It seems that a new company owned by Michael Gleissner bought a fishpond in San Vicente, reportedly for development into a marina.

For landfill, the Gleissner company is leveling off huge portions of the adjacent hills, destroying the lush vegetation and mature trees.

Gleissner who? Well, he is a German-born pioneer of an e-commerce company that was acquired by Amazon.com.

In 2006 he became a naturalized Filipino citizen, which is the only way for him to own land here.

He is the owner of the Hollywood-style movie studio called Bigfoot in Cebu City occupying a leased three-hectare property in the reclamation area there.

But who owns the fishpond in San Vicente that the Gleissner company is filling up with land from the hillsides?

Report has it that the fishpond was owned by the mayor, a certain Antonio Gonzales.

The provincial government has filed cases against Gleissner and Gonzales, plus a platoon of other local politicos who were making a killing in the destruction of the hills.

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This bank has been rumored as a top acquisition target of other bigger banks.

Well, the table is turned. Word goes around in banking that it is the most serious bidder for a Chinoy-owned commercial bank.

Known in the stock market for its consistently good ROEs in the past couple of years, the bank is actually looking at two acquisition prospects.

That is a surprise to our contacts in banking. When in the past, the industry was rife with talk of merger and acquisition, this low-key universal bank never failed to be mentioned as a possible target.

Over the weekend, word leaked out from this bank that it was out to win in the bidding for the Chinoy-bank that is up for sale.

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We hear that a licensed realtor also filed a case against the management of a hospital, claiming some P30 million in “unpaid” commission from the sale of the hospital property.

It seems that, a couple of years ago, the hospital assigned the realtor as non-exclusive broker for the sale of the prime property.

Eventually, a taipan bought the property. The realtor claimed that he registered the taipan as one of the prospective buyers.

The hospital management did give the realtor the commission, claiming that the sale was done through the “intercession” of a nephew of a top executive of the hospital.

Lo and behold, the realtor found out that the buyer actually did not employ any broker in purchasing the property.

So who ended up getting all the P30 million or so?

The hospital management is quiet. Its stockholders, however, are said to be a bit queasy on the issue.