BIZ BUZZ: Pogos on way out; DD to stay

If all goes according to plan, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will move into DoubleDragon Plaza next month.

This after publicly listed DoubleDragon Properties Corp. of double dragons Tony Tan Caktiong and Edgar “Injap” Sia II won the contract to provide the DFA with its new main headquarters in Pasay City.

The DFA, we heard, is taking over almost the entire newly built 40,000-square-meter DoubleDragon Tower building.

READ: BIZ BUZZ: DoubleDragon’s ‘otso otso’ pays off

With Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo holding office at DoubleDragon Tower, he will surely bring even more energy to the complex, and will complement the completion this year of the largest 5-star Ascott in the Philippines at the back of DoubleDragon Plaza.

DFA’s entry means DoubleDragon Plaza will have three major government agencies as tenants, following the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and Tourism Infrastructure Economic Zone Authority.

This is why DoubleDragon is not too bothered by the impending exit of Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).

Based on the company’s total revenues of P24.7 billion last year, Pogos accounted for less than 3 percent.

With its diversified tenant base, DoubleDragon promises to be “future proof” and is positioning itself as a new central business district in the Bay Area. —Tina Arceo-Dumlao

‘Bigger than drug trade’

The evil masterminds behind the notorious drug cartels are often perceived as filthy rich people who have sprawling mansions, private jets and other luxuries you can think of. After all, there is money in dealing these illicit drugs.

But it looks like the illegal drug syndicates now have a worthy competitor, so to speak. Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy, during a post-State of the Nation Address event, said that cybercriminals are probably now the bigger moneymakers.

“Cybercrime is very lucrative. It is actually bigger now than the drug trade,” Uy said.

READ: Inside the dark world of Philippine scam centers

Cybercriminals usually target prominent entities like large companies and government agencies handling a ton of sensitive information, which are valuable in the black market. The hackers hold their systems hostage until the victims pay the ransom, which could reach millions of pesos.

The DICT official said they were working with their counterparts abroad to come up with better ways to fend off these digital attacks. “It (cybercrime) now requires a global response. That is what we are doing,” he said. —Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

Ayala wants more power

The listed power platform of the Ayala Group is going full throttle on its renewable energy expansion, pouring in millions, even over a billion, of funds to subsidiaries.

With around P72 billion to shell out for clean energy projects this year, ACEN Corp. races to lead the market with an ambitious goal to grow its capacity by 20 gigawatts by 2030.

Who’s the latest to get capital? ACEN is lending Santa Cruz Solar Energy Inc. P1.92 billion to bolster its spending requirements for the San Marcelino Solar Project.

Santa Cruz Solar, the company’s special vehicle to pump up its renewable energy push, is now fast-tracking the completion of Phase 3 of its solar project in San Marcelino, Zambales.

According to ACEN, the first two phases were already finished and have been supplying power to the grid since January. Once Phase 3 is up by the fourth quarter of 2025, the solar project will boast a total capacity of 585 megawatts.

Just two weeks ago, ACEN said it would invest more than P467 million in Belenos Energy Corp. to help power up the latter’s renewable energy project.

Financing its aggressive presence in renewable energy may seem effortless for ACEN as it has secured the confidence of more banks to release money, as evidenced by a series of loan agreements signed since last year. —Lisbet K. Esmael