CEBU CITY, Philippines - A private firm is expected to start construction of a 60-hectare golf course project on an islet in Cordova town on Mactan Island in January 2009.Cordova town Mayor Adelino Sitoy said the private firm will initially invest P300 million for the golf course project, which has high-end amenities. Sitoy said the golf course is seen to attract more tourists to the town. Sitoy said development of the 14-hectare Gapas-Gapas Islet will follow a build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme, where the private entity designs and builds the infrastructure; finances its construction; and owns, operates and maintains it for 20 years or 30 years. “No public funds will be spent on the project but all documents will be named after the municipal government,” he said. He declined to name the firm since nothing is final yet. He, however, said the firm is 60 percent Filipino-owned and 40-percent foreign-owned. He said the local government unit (LGU) will also be given P1 million “bonus” by the operator on top of the taxes the LGU will receive once operation begins. Sitoy said to cover the 60-hectare property, the government plans to reclaim around 46 hectares, in addition to the 14-hectare Gapas-Gapas Islet, owned by the municipality. Sitoy said the islet on the southern part of the town will be linked to the mainland with a more than a kilometer bridge. Sitoy sees a string of restaurants along the bridge which gives customers a “magnificent view” of the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Talisay. He added local establishments such as restaurants and diving sites will cash in on the presence of the golf course. Sitoy, however, clarified that the offer from the private firm is still subject to challenge. “The local government is still in the stage of preparing documents to be submitted to the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA), Department of Tourism (DOT) and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),” he said. The mayor said town officials have talked to PRA general manager Andrea Domingo, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano and Environment Secretary Lito Atienza. “The concept is to reclaim less than 50 hectares with the approval of PRA and then make it as a tourism estate so that operators will have tax incentives,” he said. A tourism estate or tourism development zone refers to a tract of land with defined boundaries suitable for development into an integrated resort complex and houses facilities such as sports and recreation centers, accommodations and commercial establishments among others. This classification is provided by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority under the guidelines for the registration and administration of incentives for tourism economic zone developers, operators and locators. Sitoy said they have not advertised to call for developers of the golf course because they have “not yet finalized the necessary documents.”
He said the documents are expected to be completed within one month. “Also, we still have to go to Governor (Gwen Garcia) to formally present the project. By that time, we will also look into the unsolicited offer (by the private firm),” he said. | 
