JPark Panglao to begin construction in April

Cebu-based BXT Corp. announced it will start construction of JPark Island Resort Panglao next month.

“We will have ceremonial groundbreaking on April 7,” said BXT Corp. president Justin Uy.

Uy said they are investing at least P8 billion for the development of the resort, which sits on a 24-hectare property in Panglao Island, Bohol.

The development, which will be done in three phases, will initially have 1,200 guest rooms and a convention facility that can accommodate at least 1,600 guests.

“The Panglao project will have a bigger waterpark,” said Uy, also owner of Profood International Corp., a producer and exporter of dried mangoes.

BXT Corp. is also the owner of JPark Island Resort Cebu on Mactan Island. The Panglao project is the company’s first expansion outside Cebu.

“We believe that tourism will propel the economic growth of the country this year,” said Uy.

He said the company is capitalizing on the opening of the New Bohol International Airport in Panglao to bring in more foreign tourists to the province.

Uy added that the presence of direct flights to Cebu and Bohol have become an important factor in the company’s growth direction.

JPark Resort Panglao is slated for completion in the next five years.

The New Bohol International Airport is scheduled to operate in August this year.

In a statement, the Department of Transport (DOTr) said construction activities at the P7.8-billion New Bohol International Airport in Panglao were over 70 percent finished.

The terminal will span over 13,300 hectares and is expected to handle two million passengers in its opening year.

The existing Tagbilaran Airport handles about 800,000 passengers yearly.

The New Bohol International Airport will have a 2,500-meter runway. It will later be extended to 2,800 meters, said the DOTr. /