'katas ng Saudi' building rises Pampanga
When financial whiz Miguel C. Bolos quit Saudi Arabia for good in 2005, he began setting the groundwork to help returning overseas workers like him a way to successfully reintegrate into the country.
Today, Bolos, or Mike as he is more popularly known, has put up a four-story commercial building in the heart of Guagua town in Pampanga and began to look for businesses interested in setting up a shop inside his new business center.
But he wanted these businesses to be owned by former overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) like him, or at least, by OFW families.
Mike is not new to helping OFWs. He was at the forefront of the campaign for the enactment of the Overseas Absentee Voting law which was signed into law in 2003, and other welfare issues concerning his fellow OFWs in Riyadh.
At the same time, Mike bemoaned his hometown Guagua’s lack of development, which was surprising in light of the fact that it counted among its residents more than the usual OFW beneficiaries.
"It felt to me like Guagua was left behind by the times. Most of the modern conveniences can be found in neighboring towns like San Fernando, while my hometown remained the same. And the funny thing about this was the people of Guagua have a lot more spending power compared to others since most have family members working abroad and were sending remittances regularly," Mike said.
Upon retirement, Mike had bought a small spa within shouting distance of the Mall of Asia and he used his earnings from the spa, his savings, and a loan from BPI Family Savings Bank, to set up the One Crowne Plaza building in the heart of Guagua (http://onecrowneplaza.wetpaint.com/).
It was originally meant to be a three-story development, which later rose up to four storeys.
To attract other businesses to set up shop in his building, Mike also invested in his own 7-Eleven franchise, hoping that the familiar logo would act as a magnet to other businessmen.
"My decision to acquire a 7-Eleven franchise was a deliberate move to further push my personal economic advocacy agenda. With a world-class brand now seen in the center of town, other entrepreneurs will be inspired and will recognize the economic potential of the town that has a population of 120,000 relatively young individuals with high disposable income," he said.
Surprisingly, Mike’s 7-Eleven proved to have a positive effect, not just on the buying public, but on neighboring establishments, which began to renovate their facades to keep up with his modern building.
Even better, the local government of Guagua established a public utility vehicle (PUV) terminal a few meters away from the storefront to service commuters traveling between Guagua and the neighboring provinces.
The 51-year old Saudi veteran presents his building as a model of how other OFWs can be entrepreneurs.
The building is already half-full, and when "it reaches a certain stage of stability and profitability, I will make it available for interested overseas Filipinos to buy in from a minimum of one share at P5,000 up to a maximum of ten shares at P50,000 per person," he said.
"The reason for the maximum number of shares one can buy is to maximize the number of overseas Filipinos who can participate and to spread out the benefits as much as possible. To make it even more palatable, a program will be made available for the purchase of any share that any investor finds a need to dispose of at any time for whatever reasons, thereby making the investment as good as money in the bank that can be readily withdrawn if needed," Bolos said.
Bolos said "our government officials can now see for themselves how the same can be done with government-owned or controlled corporations or assets."
He is definitely out to prove that the OFW is more than just a money factory for relatives.- ABS-CBN News
Today, Bolos, or Mike as he is more popularly known, has put up a four-story commercial building in the heart of Guagua town in Pampanga and began to look for businesses interested in setting up a shop inside his new business center.
But he wanted these businesses to be owned by former overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) like him, or at least, by OFW families.
Mike is not new to helping OFWs. He was at the forefront of the campaign for the enactment of the Overseas Absentee Voting law which was signed into law in 2003, and other welfare issues concerning his fellow OFWs in Riyadh.
At the same time, Mike bemoaned his hometown Guagua’s lack of development, which was surprising in light of the fact that it counted among its residents more than the usual OFW beneficiaries.
"It felt to me like Guagua was left behind by the times. Most of the modern conveniences can be found in neighboring towns like San Fernando, while my hometown remained the same. And the funny thing about this was the people of Guagua have a lot more spending power compared to others since most have family members working abroad and were sending remittances regularly," Mike said.
Upon retirement, Mike had bought a small spa within shouting distance of the Mall of Asia and he used his earnings from the spa, his savings, and a loan from BPI Family Savings Bank, to set up the One Crowne Plaza building in the heart of Guagua (http://onecrowneplaza.wetpaint.com/).
It was originally meant to be a three-story development, which later rose up to four storeys.
To attract other businesses to set up shop in his building, Mike also invested in his own 7-Eleven franchise, hoping that the familiar logo would act as a magnet to other businessmen.
"My decision to acquire a 7-Eleven franchise was a deliberate move to further push my personal economic advocacy agenda. With a world-class brand now seen in the center of town, other entrepreneurs will be inspired and will recognize the economic potential of the town that has a population of 120,000 relatively young individuals with high disposable income," he said.
Surprisingly, Mike’s 7-Eleven proved to have a positive effect, not just on the buying public, but on neighboring establishments, which began to renovate their facades to keep up with his modern building.
Even better, the local government of Guagua established a public utility vehicle (PUV) terminal a few meters away from the storefront to service commuters traveling between Guagua and the neighboring provinces.
The 51-year old Saudi veteran presents his building as a model of how other OFWs can be entrepreneurs.
The building is already half-full, and when "it reaches a certain stage of stability and profitability, I will make it available for interested overseas Filipinos to buy in from a minimum of one share at P5,000 up to a maximum of ten shares at P50,000 per person," he said.
"The reason for the maximum number of shares one can buy is to maximize the number of overseas Filipinos who can participate and to spread out the benefits as much as possible. To make it even more palatable, a program will be made available for the purchase of any share that any investor finds a need to dispose of at any time for whatever reasons, thereby making the investment as good as money in the bank that can be readily withdrawn if needed," Bolos said.
Bolos said "our government officials can now see for themselves how the same can be done with government-owned or controlled corporations or assets."
He is definitely out to prove that the OFW is more than just a money factory for relatives.- ABS-CBN News
Comments