“Even if Ongpin is gone, with Balesin now in the hands of Recto as chairman and CEO and Ponferrada as president and COO, Balesin members and guests can be assured of the continuation of Ongpin’s projects”
The members and guests of Balesin Island Club, founded by Roberto “Bobby” Velayo Ongpin who was its chairman/CEO, will be glad to know that it is now in the hands of a very capable finance man.
He is Eric O. Recto, nephew of Bobby Ongpin, who was former finance undersecretary when Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was President.
Bobby Ongpin or “RVO” as he was called by friends and associates had died in his sleep in the early hours of Feb. 5, 2023.
Eric O. Recto took over as chairman and CEO in accordance with the will of Ongpin, and the Alphaland Board of Directors took no time to have Recto as Alphaland Chairman and CEO.
Ongpin also named his daughters Anna and Michelle to serve at Alphaland.
Rodolfo Ma.“ Pong” Ponferrada remains as President and Chief Operating Officer, a very capable executive, who was with RVO from the start of Balesin.
Before Ongpin came back to the Philippines, he spent some years in Hong Kong as a consultant of AIG (American Insurance group).
He also partnered with the Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok and became the vice chairman of The South China Morning Post.
He initially brought in a partner — the Ashmore Investment Banking concern of London – but eventually the partnership and Ongpin didn’t work out, so they separated.
Ongpin had plans to make Alphaland public by offering an IPO (Initial Public Offering), according to some sources. Recall that Alphaland was listed at the stock market before it was delisted.
Ongpin was also chairman of PhilWeb Corporation, which he sold to Greggy Araneta. He was also chairman of Atok-Big Wedge Mining Corp.
Amid clear and blue waters of the Pacific ocean, off the eastern coast of Luzon, Balesin island is a destination of unmatched natural beauty where Bobby built seven themed villages — Balesin, Bali, Phuket, Mykonos, St. Tropez, Costa del Sol and Toscana – with combined 386 villas and rooms, equipped with the best luxuries and amenities.
I was there when these themed villages were being constructed.
And I was there when they were all completed.
Ongpin’s idea of having a hydrofoil jet vessel was also realized.
Recto has vowed to continue with the projects of his late uncle, primarily at nearby Patnanungan Island, a 732-ha island which is called Balesin International Gateway (BIG).
This is a resort complex with fresh water, a 2.5 kilometer runway capable of handling big jets which could be used by international members of Balesin Island Club, composed mainly of the rich, famous and the elite.
Bobby had gone international before he died, buying one minute commercial time slots at CNN to entice the rich, famous and elite from nearby Asia, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Europe and the Middle East to become members of Balesin, enabling them to bypass the congested and crowded Ninoy Aquino International Airport and fly directly to BIG.
Bobby Ongpin had also envisioned five 5-star hotels, an 18-hole golf course and 1,834 luxury beach and golf homes.
The idea: Attract the world’s high network individuals to enjoy the most unique beach resort and nature enclave, as members and guests.
According to Recto, he will particularly pay attention to services.
The entire BIG project, Santa Banana, will be completed in 10-years time.
But the late Ongpin had already begun.
The late Bobby, the visionary, always thought big as he envisioned BIG.
With Alphaland being debt-free with over P1 billion in its pocket, Balesin Island Club members can be assured of continuous good service.
Another project which Recto vowed to continue is the Baguio Mountain Lodges, a 9-kilometer distance from Central Baguio City, the summer capital and which I call “the Forbes Park of Baguio,’, since the lodges being built are too pricey for me.
The project is already pre-sold.
Of the 142 lodges, 74 have already been built.
The area, which was bought by Bobby when he was managing partner of SGV, had a log cabin at the top of a hill.
I was there upon invitation of Bobby and, Santa Banana, the thought came to my mind that it was really ideal for building mountain lodges complete with helicopter pad.
In fact, it is now secured by a high wall surrounding it and outposts, complete with a chapel, gymnasium, and even amenities like a spa.
There are even eateries before the entry to the area.
Bobby always thought of the needs of the residents and Recto vowed to continue with them and even improve its services.
The last project of Ongpin is a soccer football field complete with artificial grass like they have abroad for the premier soccer football leagues.
Would you believe that Ongpin had gone to the US, Japan and Europe to sell Balesin as a winter getaway for soccer football premier leagues to practice for the winter.
In fact, the soccer field is even/ already in place complete with a grandstand and dormitories under it for soccer players to use.
Bobby Ongpin was the great visionary that he was, and members and guests will be glad to know that all of RVO’s projects are now in the hands of very capable executives like Eric O. Recto and Rodolfo Ponferrada who were with Bobby from the start to continue Bobby’s dreams and to make them a reality.
I was always with Bobby Ongpin when he came back to the Philippines after he left the country when the late Marcos Sr. was exiled.
I helped him buy out the majority shares of ETPI—Eastern Telecommunication Philippines Inc.—which he later sold to Ramon Ang of San Miguel, who later on sold it to Smart and Globe.
In fact, I was aware the first project of RVO was a “Marine Hub” at Pasay City, close to the four casino projects of PAGCOR.
Marine Hub was a members-only club for fanciers of boats, complete with all the amenities you can think of for marine lovers.
I was with RVO when the project was launched.
I know, since Eric O. Recto was also there as the right hand of RVO.
The project was discontinued because of some differences with another property developer about the land.
That gave Bobby an opportunity to make Balesin Island Club his signature development, an island which he bought from his undersecretary Ed Tordesillas when RVO was Trade and Industry Minister of Marcos Sr.
Recto also vowed to continue with Bobby’s CSR, Corporate Social Responsibility, at the Ateneo de Manila University in the name of his late brother, the finance secretary of the late Cory Aquino, Jaime V. Ongpin, providing scholarships to poor and deserving students.
Another dream of Ongpin was to popularize soccer in the Philippines, since soccer does not demand height like basketball.
With soccer legends Pele of Brazil, who was only 5 feet and seven inches tall, and now Messi, another soccer legend from Argentina who is also 5 feet seven inches tall, Ongpin said Filipinos can also be legends in soccer.
Well. that’s something we Filipinos should think about.
In one of his last letters to Balesin Island Club members, he wrote and I quote:
“This past weekend, we started playing on the FIFA-approved field at the Balesin Football Center.
“Fortunately, our BFC Managing Director, Darren Hartmann, owns and operates a football academy in Sinaloan (sic), Laguna, only an hour from our shipping point of Infanta, Real in Quezon.
“Darrens’s academy has been operating for a number of years, and he brought 24 of his players from GOM (Great Oak Manor).
“During the weekend, they played several practice games and quite a few members watched the game. I must say that they are quite accomplished footballers. In fact, close to world-class, in my opinion.
“The youngsters were thrilled to play at our top-of-the-line football pitch at BFC. “Darren tells me that the pitch is superb and compares quite favorably with the Premier League football fields in the UNK.
“We have some 30 bunk beds in our dormitory below the grandstand, and the boys enjoyed their weekend, including of course their tour of Naelsin.
“This will now be a weekly affair and all members are welcome to watch them play when they are here on future weekends.”
To realize his dream, Ongpin had been going to the US, Europe and Japan enticing soccer leagues to go to Balesin during their off-season in winter to undergo training.
To achieve this Ongpin has built at Alphaland’s expense a FIFA-approved artificial grass football field which he called the Balesin Football Center.
Members and guests can now watch soccer being played by a soccer football academy. Indeed, Bobby was a tycoon who thought big and went to all lengths to realize it.
Well, even if Ongpin is gone, with Balesin now in the hands of Recto as chairman and CEO and Ponferrada as president and COO, Balesin members and guests can be assured of the continuation of Ongpin’s projects.
That’s Bobby Ongpin for you, titan, tycoon billionaire, technocrat, international businessman and visionary.
He must now be smiling from his place of rest.
