But they are both avid supporters of President Duterte especially during the campaign. “Yes, I’ve met your Dennis Uy here and in fact I always call him kuya (big brother) and he is the richer Dennis Uy,” quipped Uy, chairman and CEO of the Udenna Group of Companies.
He was talking about his namesake, local businessman Dennis Anthony Uy of Angeles City, president and CEO of Converge ICT that aims to bring fiber optic connection to every home in the Philippines for a faster internet connection and other consumer- centric services provider in the country.
The younger Uy is based in Davao City, President Duterte’s hometown. He presided over the media launch of the Clark Global City (CGC) here on Tuesday at its 177-hectare property which it acquired last year for $1 billion.
“We always talk about certain opportunities but wala pang concrete na nangyayare (…nothing concrete yet) and I think I will have to invite him to invest in Davao the same way he invited me to invest here in Pampanga and in Clark,” said Uy.
Clark Global City Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Udenna Development Corp., the real estate and property development arm of one of the fastest-growing holding companies in the Philippines – Udenna Corp.
Incorporated on March 19, 2002, Udenna is at the helm of the diversified business interests of the Udenna Group in petroleum and oil through Phoenix Petroleum; shipping and logistics through Chelsea Logistics; real estate through Udenna Development; education through Enderun Colleges; and infrastructure through Udenna Infrastructure, among others.
The Udenna Group has exponentially grown for over 15 years. It successfully listed Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. and Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. on the Philippine Stock Exchange in 2007 and 2017, respectively.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Freddie Plasino, vice president and managing director of the company, said they are currently negotiating with nine local investors and plan to embark on a roadshow to entice foreign investors.
“Basically, our development plan has to speed it up. We will be inviting fellow developers to develop the remaining parts of the estate so that would be open to local and to foreign developers,” Plasino said.
“We are also inviting investors who would like to invest in low to medium type housing development. We have the high-end buildings that would cater to the needs of the various sectors of the population,” he said.
“What our group intends to do is to fully develop horizontally – the roads, the common areas – but the rest of the vertical will all be open to local and foreign investors,” he added.
Uy said CGC will have a school and a church among other amenities. “We are looking to donate around three hectares for a school and we intend to have another area for a church,” he said.
When asked if CGC will have a casino, Uy said the plan is now in the drawing board.
“It has no definite timetable, but we are allocating a portion here. We will inform the public once we have the defi – nite plans on the table,” he said.
Uy said the casino “is not part of Clark Global City company since it’s under PH Resorts.” He explained that they are a customer of Clark Global targeting 2022 to open the casino.
“Currently they are in the drawing board. They just got their license,” he said.The requirement is 10 hectares for the casino, he added.
