Glan Glam

You have perhaps heard of the oft-used phrase “All roads lead to Rome” which describes how all roads literally led to this so-called Eternal City, with the ancient world’s most comprehensive highway system built by the Roman Empire.

The quaint coastal town of Glan is no Rome, but it is boldly claiming that all roads—in Mindanao, at least—lead to its vast expanse of powdery white beach called Gumasa, dubbed as the “Boracay of Mindanao.” Tucked in the eastern Sarangani Bay, this sleepy shore will come to life once more from May 30 to June 1 during the SarBay Festival, the country’s biggest beach event which lures some 150,000 partygoers.

Named as among Asia’s Top 50 Beaches in the prestigious Australia-based Flight Network last year, this mile-long cove is also the beach capital of the Soccsksargen Region, which covers South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City.

Hacienda Don Juan

Heritage Village

Aside from its mesmerizing talcum sand, Glan boasts of a checkered history and mouthwatering cuisine. Regarded as the region’s heritage village, the town takes pride in its American-era houses which date back to the pre-war era. A hamlet under the then Empire Province of Cotabato, Glan traces its roots to 1914, when the pioneering batch of migrants from Cebu landed to populate the area.

In an inventory made by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) last year, only four ancestral homes were found to be in good condition, while the rest needs comprehensive restoration work. One of those which has withstood the ravages of time is the residence of Dr. Joe Ruiz, situated at the población, which is a living museum with its antiquarian home furnishings and paraphernalia.

The Glan municipal government and the NCCA have signified readiness to assist researchers, architecture students, conservationists, and locals to take part in the restoration efforts.

Complementing the old houses is the circa-1940s dispensary which will be converted into a museum with the help of the United Architects of the Philippines. An ancestral house which has masterfully made an adaptive reuse is Hacienda Don Juan, a private beachfront farm ranch which has been reinvented as a resort, restaurant and recreational hub. Its centerpiece is a two-storey Spanish-style building with its remaining original solid hard wood structure, with eight verandas, and punctuated with antique displays.

The town has been luring locals and visitors alike for its Great Glan Gourmet Getaway or 4G

Gourmet getaway

In recent years, the town has been luring locals and visitors alike for its Great Glan Gourmet Getaway or 4G, whose strong signal cuts across Mindanao. The culinary tourism program seeks to provide a consummate travel experience by putting to the fore its homegrown cozy dining outlets—Bellmar Ecopark and Beach Resort, Isla Jardin Del Mar, Lanai 1687, Carlito Kaffee, Babes Chow and King James Hotel, a grill and watering hole at the town proper.

Frontier for property dev’t

It is surprising to note that despite its tourist pull, real estate in Glan only fetches between P1,000 to P1,500 per sqm, based on fair market and zonal valuations of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The area is, by and large, an investment frontier due to the absence of sizable developments—largely attributed by provincial officials to the conservative outlook of local land owners.

The town’s single biggest property is Isla Jardin Del Mar, a 34-ha tropical-themed beach resort which was first to blaze the trail in Gumasa. Owned by a Gen. Santos City-based fishing magnate-slash-hotelier, it has a one-hectare lagoon for paddling and fishing, aquasports equipment, and mid-sized function rooms, and is currently adding 20 rooms to accommodate the growing number of guests.

According to Michelle Solon, chairperson of the Soccsksargen regional tourism council, the group is pushing for more investments in Glan, particularly in the hospitality sector, to attract more long-staying visitors. She noted that the group is promoting joint ventures between realty firms and property owners to put up of mid-sized resorts and accommodation facilities.

“There is still a lot of investment opportunities in the untapped beaches, but the property owners need to find good partners to handle it, maybe if they are like bigger investors that have a wider perspective,” said Solon, who is also Sarangani’s first lady.

The province lured some 1.6 million tourists last year, most of which visited during the SarBay Fest, but stayed in Gen. Santos City as Glan only has 14 lodging facilities with a total about 100 rooms.

She added that more hotels would boost the area as a new hub for meetings, incentives conventions and exhibitions (MICE), and provide an alternative to the cities of Gen. Santos and Koronadal.

“I do believe a day would come that we will have more confidence from investors, then MICE can also move in to Sarangani,” Solon concluded.

With fresh hopes brought in by the newly-elected municipal leadership, the local governments can be more purposive in pushing investments in the tourism sector by developing idle lands into leisure complexes. And with the reported acquisition of a multimillion property by Manny Pacquiao, these sleepy shores may soon find itself one of the hotly-contested patches of beach paradise in the south.