PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has formally inaugurated property giant Megaworld Corporation’s 34-hectare The Upper East by unveiling the township marker, together with Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI) Chief Executive Officer Kevin Tan yesterday, October 23.
The township marker highlights the rise of The Upper East as Bacolod City’s first large-scale master planned community on what used to be the site of the historic Bacolod-Murcia Milling Company.
The formal inauguration of The Upper East marks a vibrant beginning for Megaworld in Bacolod City as the company commits to generate more than 500,000 direct and indirect jobs in the province.
The township also plays an instrumental role in helping boost tourism in Bacolod through the construction of hotels and other tourism destinations within the township, the first of which was McDonald’s The Upper East, now known as the “most beautiful McDonald’s store in the Philippines.”
Megaworld is also reinforcing its commitment to help Bacolod’s information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector grow by opening new Peza-accredited office towers that will provide employment to around 100,000 individuals in the next five to ten years.
“Throughout our 33 years as a company, Megaworld has been investing in next-generation cities and provinces in the country. With Bacolod’s modern central business district rising here in The Upper East, Megaworld aligns its efforts with the government’s objectives of generating employment, jumpstarting tourism, and bringing in high-quality investments to the country,” Tan, who also serves as the chief strategy officer for Megaworld, said.
Tan is a member of Marcos’ Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC), a team led by business leaders that helps the government discuss solutions on how to address various challenges from several different economic industries and sectors.
He was part of the President’s entourage that met with several companies and foreign investors in Europe and the United States and helped bring back investment commitments to the Philippines.
“I specifically remember us sitting down with the seven largest BPO companies in the world, most of whom are already our tenants in our office developments. The feedback that I got from them after our discussions was that they are now looking at the Philippines more favorably as a viable investment destination. Several investors have already reached out to us to discuss their plans about expanding in the Philippines, and Bacolod is very high on their list,” Tan said.
Tan said that investor confidence is currently at an all-time high because of the President’s unwavering support to the BPO sector and the entire business community.
“We eagerly bring our vision for The Upper East to fruition by strengthening our partnership with the Bacolod LGU led by Mayor Albee Benitez. We are very happy to be here in Bacolod, and this is our way of contributing to the great strides that both the national and the local government have made in this wonderful city,” Tan added.
Continuing its rise as the city’s first master-planned mixed-use community, The Upper East will soon host its own Landers Superstore, the first in Western Visayas and the only the second outside of Metro Manila.
Megaworld’s first-ever residential condominium inside the township, One Regis, has also opened its doors to the first residents of The Upper East.
Last week, Megaworld opened McDonald’s The Upper East, which has now become a tourist destination in the Bacolod. The McDonald’s NXTGen store features the largest alfresco facility for any McDonald’s in the whole of Visayas, as well as the world’s first-ever McDonald’s Dessert Station on a train made from a refurbished century-old BMMC train.
Set to open next year inside the township is Megaworld’s iconic three-level showroom The Upper East House, which has been designed after the ‘white mansion’ that used to be part of the BMMC complex. (PR)