TACLOBAN CITY , Philippines — The top brass of Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) led by their president Lance Gokongwei and Tacloban City officials led by Mayor Alfred Romualdez formally opened the 98-room GoHotels.ph and annex building of Robinsons Place Tacloban, the first “real mall” in the city, last May 16.
The “no frills” hotel is the fifth GoHotel in the country, with another one inaugurated just two weeks earlier in Dumaguete City.
Frederick Go, RLC vice president, said they were happy with the support given to them by the Romualdez family, adding that they owe Robinsons’ presence in Tacloban “to the man who started it all,” former mayor Alfredo “Bejo” Romualdez Sr., father of the incumbent mayor and owner of the property where the shopping mall-cum-hotel is located.
Go added that with Robinsons’ success in Tacloban, they are now even looking into the possibility of opening up another mall, another GoHotel and even a subdivision development.
For his part, Mayor Romualdez said he was proud to tell Taclobanons that with the opening of the new mall in the city, the region is now fourth in the country with the biggest amount of money in circulation.
He said no less than Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor Amando Tetangco himself relayed this to him, when the latter was here during the inauguration of the BSP building a few months back.
To cap the short program, Go offered a toast to the success of the event, together with commercial centers division manager Arlene Magtibay, GoHotels.ph manager Liz Gregorio, Mayor Romualdez, his councilor-wife Cristina and father Bejo Romualdez, and city administrator Tecson John Lim.
Singer Richard Poon provided the entertainment during the program, which was emceed by TV host Grace Lee.