Mactan resort tops list of taxpayers for 5th year

FOR five years in a row, Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa led this year’s top taxpayers in Lapu-Lapu City.

The City Government assured it will continue to address the needs of the business sector, as it honored the city’s top 20 taxpayers last Friday night.

Mayor Paz Radaza hailed the taxpayers as “modern-day economic heroes” in her speech during the awarding ceremony at the Movenpick Resort and Spa in Barangay Punta Engaño.

“We will always walk the extra mile to address your needs to make doing business in our city so much easier,” she said.

New investors

Radaza said the Asian Institute of Management and the World Bank, in a study conducted in 2008, ranked Lapu-Lapu as second among the country’s cities in terms of ease in starting a business.

The mayor also announced new investments in the city. These include the P10-billion project of the Megaworld Corp. to develop a 16-hectare property in Barangay Mactan into a mixed-use commercial complex.

Another is the $1.2-billion investment of Zehira USA to construct a waste disposal plant that will convert waste into energy.

“This waste-to-energy project will not only solve the problem of garbage but also leapfrog the city’s waste management into the future of waste disposal system,” Radaza said.

She said the City’s hosting of the Ironman Triathlon, an international sports competition, on Aug. 5 will bring in 5,000 athletes and support crew.

The mayor also mentioned the City’s road rehabilitation projects.

The ceremony was attended by Japanese Consul Yoshiaka Hata and Chinese Consul General Zhang Weirguo.

Lapu-Lapu’s top 20 taxpayers are the following: Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa; Taiyo Yuden Philippines Inc.; General Milling Corp.; Phil. BXT Corp.; Filinvest Land Inc.; Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casino Inc.; Gaisano Grand Mall of Mactan Far East Noble House Inc.; Muramoto Audio-Visual Phils. Corp; Lear Automotive Services (Netherlands) Corp.; Plantation Bay Holdings Inc.; Movenpick Resort and Spa Cebu; Yamashi Cebu Filter Manufacturing Corp.; Fairchild Semiconductor; Bigfoot Properties Inc.; Prohomes Development Inc.; Olympus Optical Technology Phils. Inc.; Lexmark International (Phils.) Inc.; Ajinomoto Phils. Corp.; Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.; and East Asia Utilities Corp.