Routes
PAGCOR’s Genuino
When the Philippine Medical Association contingent came to Panay Island to offer assistance to Ilonggo, Antiqueño, Aklanon and Capiznon victims of “Typhoon Frank,” very few knew about the bighearted name behind the generosity.
Now, when Wanders, the world-renowned, dance and acrobatic extravaganza has been booked to perform for free during the awarding ceremonies of the Dinagyang 2009, again, very few know about the bighearted name behind the generosity.
Philipppine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Efrain C. Genuino or “Kuya Efren,” to friends, has been with Panay, particularly Iloilo Province and Iloilo City, in abundance and in need.
With his pronouncement during the Kalibo Ati-atihan Festival last week that he will help the Department of Tourism by bringing in investors, Genuino becomes more relevant to Iloilo City and Iloilo Province.
The Philippine economic community has identified tourism as a strong enterprise for development. And Genuino is not only talking about tourism. He has actually been doing it!
Genuino is now at the helm of a gigantic tourism project: Ang Bagong Nayong Filipino- Entertainment City. Entertainment City is Genuino’s move to transcend PAGCOR’s gaming activities - Genuino is making a shift from gaming to culture and arts and entertainment.
Ang Bagong Nayong Filipino - Entertainment City which has started reclamation in Manila Bay will cover 700 hectares and has the initial foreign investment of US$15 billion dollars without Philippine Government equity. Unlike the controversy-ridden ZTE, Entertainment City will not, in any way, mark a scar on the Philippine economy with its six-star hotels, cultural centers, museums, convention halls, fine dining and family restaurants, shopping centers, amusement and theme parks, sports complex, race tracks, residential areas, hospital facilities and an observation tower, one which will be among the tallest structures in the world.
To a country trying to make its culture and arts through tourism a prime socio-economic development strategy, Genuino is right in the heart and the soul of the Filipino, more precisely the historico-culturally rich Ilonggo.
Ang Bagong Nayong Filipino – Entertainment City will generate 450,000 jobs with international pay standards. “If Macau and Singapore and other tourism and entertainment destinations in Asia can pay in dollars, why can’t that be done in the Philippines with a project that is purely financed by foreign investors?” says Genuino. He further says that the Philippines had been left behind and we should not allow that.
The minimum entry salary of an employee of Ang Bagong Nayong Filipino –Entertainment City is Php60,000. This, in the outright, answers the question “Why work abroad?” especially with a forecast worsening global financial crisis.
Genuino is economist, artist, cultural worker, health worker, and development worker made concrete into one. The “Chairman” will be the guest speaker of the Philippine Medical Association Regional Assembly on January 23, 2009 here in Iloilo City. That alone gives life to Iloilo City’s vision of making itself the convention hub of Western Visayas and the whole Visayas which originally gave the city the fame of being “The Queen City of the South” with its maritime trade and industry more vibrant than that of Manila in the early part of the century.
“This way Genuino, the man of vision meets Iloilo City’s vision,” says Dr. Mike Aragon, Philippine Medical Association’s chairman for Media Affairs. Aragon, and of Philippine Medical Association’s Heal the Nation, a movement of medical practitioners who symbolically do their share in the healing of the socio-economically ill nation by practicing to its utmost meaning their profession by addressing the compelling national situation.
Genuino’s Ang Bagong Nayong Filipino –Entertainment City is tourism with an ecological conscience. Entertainment City will have infrastructures for a waste facility. It also has a tradition conscience. It will have a home for the aged. This is now “Kuya Efren” with his proximity to the Philippine family and values. This is the same “Kuya Efren” who established the “safety net” for pathologic casino gamers who when identified to have become unproductive to their livelihood and families were banned from gaming. Kuya Efren believes in the world-class talent of the Filipino and cites Lea Salongga who is with Wanders in regular shows.
In a nationally aired interview with broadcast icon Joe Taruc, PAGCOR Chairman and Chef Executive Officer Efrain C. Genuino said that he will continue to help and give priority to Iloilo City and Iloilo Province if these can develop world class or globally competitive tourist attractions.
And to that, the city and province of Iloilo are saying: Welcome “Kuya Efren” Genuino!