BIZ BUZZ: Yacht race champs, ahoy!
After an exhilarating four-leg nautical race that summoned some of the country’s yacht masters and their crew to top tourist and historical sites in the Philippines in recent months— Corregidor, Busuanga, Boracay, and Subic Bay—the BPI Private Wealth Signature Yacht Race Series closed with a big bang last weekend.
Team Belatrix, skippered by Jun Villanueva, chair of real estate developer MDI Holdings, ruled the IRC (International Rating Certificate) class of BPI Subic Regatta 2024, the last leg of the sailing race series.
READ: BIZ BUZZ: Yacht race, anyone?
Based on provisional scores, which will still be validated based on World Sailing Rules, Belatrix is the front-runner to be IRC champion of the entire yacht race series that began in mid-November last year.
Jun started his sailing journey in 2007 with a Hobie Cat vessel and upped his game by joining the Hobie Challenge Regattas. He and his wife, Myla (who also loves sailing and mixing cocktails while sunset sailing), built Belatrix for over a year in Milan in 2018.
For the Subic regatta, Misty Mountain, skippered by George Hackett bagged second place, while Centennial 2, skippered by Martin Tanco, placed third.
Subic cruising class winners were: Anthea, skippered by Anthony Evangelista (first place), and Papaya, helmed by Renie Ticzon (second place).
Papaya is in the running to be the overall series champion of the cruising class.
“It was a very successful undertaking. What’s great about it is we put together different races—some are existing, some we revived. Corregidor is new but in its first year, it had no sponsor. So it’s putting together the whole sailing community and we wanted to make sure that we make an impact,” said Tere Marcial, president of BPI Wealth and likewise a skipper of her boat (Isabelle).“
READ: Spectacular BPI Corregidor Cup 2023 re-ignites the spirit of sailing in the Philippines
This race series puts the Philippines back on the sailing map. For us, it’s important because the Philippines should be a destination for sailing. The beauty of our shores, our seas, our hospitality, tourism is something that we should really be pushing,” said BPI president TG Limcaoco.
The mission will be to get not just more Filipinos to crew on yacht races, but likewise to bring in more international players.
“This is just the start,” he said.— Doris Dumlao-Abadilla
Farm to WalterMart
Rather than sticking to selling vegetables via grocery stores or offering fresher produce for a limited time, the Sy-led SM Group has transformed its farm-to-table project into one of the flagship programs of WalterMart.
Under the retail giant’s Palengke Fresh program, farm-fresh produce is sold in 38 stores nationwide, allowing farmers to directly sell their produce to a wider range of customers.
“Our partnership with local producers through the Palengke Fresh program bridges the gap between farm and table and cultivates a sustainable agricultural culture between farmers and customers with each direct sale,” said Jennilyn Uy, WalterMart president.
“For us to make an impact on the livelihood of our farmers, we make it a point that they are involved in our supply chain process,” Uy added.
Since its launch in 2022, the program grew from being available only in a number of stores in Central Luzon to selling over 2,000 metric tons of produce across the country, according to the SM Group. —Meg J. Adonis
