BIZ BUZZ: Resurrecting AIT House

After more than 30 years, AIT House, the 27-room hotel of the UP Asian Institute of Tourism, may soon reopen its doors.

Among the primary forces in the group tasked to resurrect AIT House is John Patrick Gregorio, who graduated cum laude from AIT in 1988. He is one of its most distinguished alumni and was the first to be recognized in 2003 as a Ten Outstanding Young Man for tourism.

Gregorio, who also heads Landco Lifestyle Ventures, hopes to tap private firms as well as individuals to contribute to the endeavor so that AIT House can reopen by February 2026 as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of UP AIT, Southeast Asia’s first higher academic learning institution to offer a Bachelor of Science degree program in Tourism and graduate courses focused on tourism development and management.

Discussions on the rehabilitation of AIT House kicked off last week and brought together alumni and officials, including UP president Angelo Jimenez, vice president Abraham Rey Acosta, vice president Daniel Peckley Jr., UP Diliman Chancellor Edgardo Carlo Vistan II and AIT Dean Giovanni Legaspi.

When the AIT House first opened, five-star hotels such as the Manila Hotel and The Peninsula Manila donated a room. Plans are thus underway to invite these same hotels and other top names in the hospitality sector such as Solaire Resort, Shangri-La Hotels, and Conrad Manila to also donate a room and help restore AIT House to its former glory.

Jimenez said he was personally pushing for the full development of the AIT House as part of overall plans to position UP as a regional leader in tourism education.

“It will also be among the central features of a “Silicon Valley” type of technology and innovation park development that we envision once the lease on the UP-Ayala Technohub is up. We want it to be a fully integrated science and technology and cultural center for Quezon City,” he added.

With such dedicated alumni and passionate UP officials rallying behind the project, chances are good that the AIT House that ceased operations in 1994 will indeed rise again.—Tina Arceo-Dumlao

Protecting Filipinos vs fraud mobile apps

Filipino users may fall victim to fraudulent mobile apps, which can be accidentally downloaded from unofficial online sources.

Google Philippines head of government affairs and public policy Yves Gonzales said these fake apps are usually involved in lending and other financial platforms. This proves the primary goal of hackers: to steal money from unsuspecting victims.

To safeguard the public, the technology giant has introduced in the Philippines the Enhanced Google Play Protect, which blocks users from downloading malicious software.

This feature, which has been made available in India, Thailand, Singapore, and Brazil, is automatically installed on all Android phones.

If the app being downloaded asks to enable permission to read mobile messages, access screen recordings, and others that violate privacy, the Google feature kicks in automatically, Gonzales explained.

As of February 10, this feature had already blocked over 3.2 million high-risk app install attempts in the Philippines.

“Google is deeply committed to digital responsibility and internet safety,” Google country director for Thailand and the Philippines Jackie Wang said. — Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

Rice prices going down, but not yet P20/kilo

President Marcos has yet to fulfill his campaign promise of lowering rice prices to P20 per kilo, but at least retail prices of rice are starting to decline.

The Department of Agriculture’s price monitoring showed that as of Feb. 10, rice was being sold in public markets for around P40 a kilogram, from P50 a kilo last year.

Given its recent efforts and the decline in global prices, the agency hopes that retail prices will soon go down to about P30 per kg in the near term.

“Hindi pa rin siguro… not P20 but possible siguro sa mid-P30s talaga (Probably not yet… not P20 per kilogram, but maybe around mid-P30 per kilogram realistically speaking),” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said during a recent market visit in Quezon City.

“World prices are also going down. So, if the world price, theoretically… if the world price of rice goes down, even its inputs including fertilizer, should follow,” he told reporters.

And that will put the Marcos administration closer to hitting the target of P20 a kilo, perhaps before the end of his term in 2028.— Jordeene B. Lagare