The recently successful Iloilo Business Summit in Makati held at the Hotel Incercontinental Manila revealed some of the big projects Iloilo is going to have in the next 5-10 years. From an article entitled Iloilo draws PhP150B worth of investments, published in the Manila Bulletin, it says
But one that caught the most attention was the conclusion part about the power sector, the one with the highlight
The country’s top six business conglomerates and foreign investors are investing over P150 billion in ongoing and future projects, one third of which goes to power ventures, in Iloilo, drawn by the province’s right business environment, quality human resources and quality of life.
The confirmed investments are from Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC), Phinma Corp., SM Investments Corp., Megaworld Corp., and In Japan Investments Inc.
All these investors, who come from the province, cited Iloilo’s good governance policy, skilled manpower, good infrastructure facilities, good education, rich natural resources, and local officials working together harmoniously as factors that attract them to invest in Iloilo.
But one that caught the most attention was the conclusion part about the power sector, the one with the highlight
Investments in the power sector are estimated at over P50 billion or a third of the P150 billion total committed. These power investments include those of Palm Concepcion Power Corp. (P16 billion for the 270-mw power plant complex in Concepcion emfor completion in 2016 and another power plant worth P10 billion by 2019); Global Business Power Corp. (P15.6 billio); Energy Renewable Asia (P2.5 billion); Dream Engineering Co. Ltd., (P10 billion power project and cable car connecting Iloilo City and Guimaras island); and NV Vogt Singapore Pte.Ltd. (P2.5 billion 5-10 megawatt power plant).
That prompted my favorite Iloilo forum Skyscrapercity - Iloilo, to have a barrage of suggestions for this very promising project. Take note that all of these cable car related are just proposals/suggestions from the said forum. (Courtesy of barbas_bigote, part-timer,crust86, sensitivity_zero )
And to cap it all off, Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog of Iloilo City, in his Facebook Page, has this to say about the project proposal, to the supporters and critics as well
Sa tanan nga wala ka intiende sa english... ang cable car between guimaras and iloilo private company ang ga propose ... wala ya gastuhon ang gobyerno maski singko. Kon high maintenance man, ila na ina ya risk go. Kon bridge ang ginapangita nyo ang iya presyo 16 billion pesos. Wala man kita 16 billion para ipatindog taytay. Dapat kabalo man kita mag pasalamat kay may mga dalagko nga negosyante nga gusto mag negosyo diri sa aton ciudad. Ang maka benepisyo aton man ciudad kay this will be the first longest cable car in the philippines. Ma promote ang aton turismo nga wala man gobyerno gin gasto. Kabay nga na intiedehan na ninyo.Roughly translated as
To all who can't undertsand English, the cable car between Iloilo and Guimaras is a proposal fro ma private company, the government won't have to spend a centavo. If this is high maintenance, it will be their own risk. If you are looking for a bridge between Iloilo and Guimaras, the price tag is PhP16 Billion. We don't have this amount for the bridge. We should know how to be thankful that big businesses are willing to invest in our city. The city will benefit big from this endeavour since this will be the (first) longest cable car in the Philippines. It will promote our toruism potentials without the government spending a single centavo. Hopefully you will understand...Now are you excited for the project or see something not good about this?