Pueblo de Oro

Established in 1998 as a fledgling computer retailer, Globalchips Technologies, Co. has since grown to become one of Cagayan de Oro's (CDO) leading companies in information technology sales and services.

With only four personnel when it started, Globalchips now has a regular workforce of 38. While it struggled to make its mark against stiff competition from established computer companies in the city during its initial year, the next year proved very good for the company as the IT industry in Cagayan de Oro suddenly boomed, and Globalchips responded to market demand with the establishment of its subsidiary company and service arm, SmartPC Computer Service Center, Inc. Together, their services expanded to include PABX installation, LAN/WAN networking, and others.

Certified as an Authorized Service Provider of Compaq, Globalchips also became an authorized service center for Hewlett Packard (HP) upon Compaq's merger in 2003 with HP, a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services. Globalchips' consistent excellent service has enabled them to win HP's Outstanding Authorized Service Provider in Mindanao Award three times.

"The IT industry in Cagayan de Oro is rising, especially in the Uptown area," says William Malagar, General Manager of Globalchips. Foreseeing the growth in Uptown CDO, Malagar purchased a lot at Masterson Mile in December of 2004. Since then, the Pueblo de Oro IT Ecozone has been proclaimed and Link2Support, Cagayan de Oro's biggest call center, has established its operations here.

"The HP Global Solutions Center will be only the second of its kind in Southeast Asia," stated Malagar. The other is located in Singapore. The HP Global Solutions Center will provide business solutions, corporate software development, and other IT-related services to clients, with direct support from HP.

With the establishment of the first HP Global Solutions Center in the country, Globalchips has joined the ranks of Link2Support and SM in bringing Pueblo de Oro Township to the forefront of Cagayan de Oro's IT boom.

They Live Where They Never Have to Leave

For two of our managers, Pueblo's battle cry "Live Where You Never Have to Leave" holds true. Senior Manager for Accounting Janet Digal and Senior Product Manager Odie Tancongco have both recently built their homes in the Pueblo de Oro Township.

The Digals: Jio, Mario, Janet and Joyce wave from the balcony of their new home.

Janet purchased a lot in Morning Mist Village several years ago and started construction on their home late last year. Janet and husband Mario, a seaman, took an active role in the design of their home. While Janet conceptualized the looks and spact layout of the house, Mario selected the colors and accessories. Their new home is a four-bedroom house with two bathrooms, a powder room, garage and terrace. The house and its furnishings are in verying shades of brown, Janet's favorite color. The Digals were able to maximize the use of their 144 sq.m. lot, with the floor area of their home totaling 160 sq.m.

According to their son Jio, he is happy because now he and his sister Joyce have their own separate rooms and their school, Xavier University Grade School (XUGS) is just a few steps away. Also, Joyce is enjoying the company of one of her classmates who lives right next door as they can talk to each other even from their windows. The family is also taking delight in the cool breeze blowing through Morning Mist Village. "We don't even need to turn on our aircon," says Janet. "We just open the windows."

The Digal's house

The Tancongcos: Toby, Sarah, Odie, Armand and Amiel enjoy living in Hillsborough Pointe.

Odie and his wife Sarah are parents to three young boys, Amiel, Toby and Armand. Because their sons are very active and need plenty of room to play, the Tancongcos chose a 150 sq.m. corner lot in Hillsborough Pointe fronting the park. The boys could just cross the street and play basketball in the court or go swimming in the village pool.

Odie came up with the design for his house, then worked together with an architect to bring his ideas to fruition. Their home's architectural tenor was inspired by country houses, with trellises, stoneworks, and shutters. Their home features European-style windows, a recent trend, using uPVC produced by Vignet and locally supplied by Strauss Windows. Their home has three bedrooms because though they could have had more, they felt that the size of the rooms should not be compromised. Amiel loves the arrangement, because as the eldest he has a room all to himself.

Odie is happy with the security in the village. "Most people in Hillsborough Pointe don't put up fences," he says. "Also, on weekends my boys can play outside and bike around until midnight without us having to worry."

The Tancongco's house

The Digals and the Tancongcos both exemplify the concept of Township living. Odie and Janet work close enough to home that they can go home for lunch. Both familites send their children to XUGS' Pueblo campus, which is just outside their respective villages. In fact, incoming sixth-graders Amiel and Jio are part of the pioneering batch of students in the Pueblo campus. Also, SM Mall is only a short distance awat.

Truly, they can live where they never have to leave.

Morning Mist Village's VIP Residents

Vice-Mayor Michelle and husband Gary

Many people may not know it but Morning Mist Village (MMV) has some very important residents in the persons of Mrs. Michelle Tagarda-Spiers, the incumbent vice-mayor of Cagayan de Oro City, and her husband.

For two years now, Michelle has been living in MMV since she won as vice- mayor in 2004 in a cozy one-level house she is leasing from a homeowner friend of her friend. In August that year, she got married to a British national, Gary Spiers, a sculptor from Durham, a county in the northeast portion of England, whom she met through her sister.

A true blue Cagay-anon, Michelle is fifth of 10 children, obtained her law degree from Xavier University, and was a practicing lawyer and a two-term city councilor before she became CDO's vice-mayor. She considers her entry into and her thriving in politics as destiny just like her marriage to Gary. "Why, I never thought I would get married to a foreigner, more so to a White man," she says.

The couple shuttles from Gary's country home in Durham and back, but Michelle's commitment as the vice-mayor requires her to stay in the City longer. She was in Durham last year to join her husband and spend a White Christmas there but returned shortly after to resume work in the City. Gary tagged along on her return early this year and the loving couple has been staying in their abode in Morning Mist hence. While here, Gary busies himself doing a lot of sculpture works, using what Michelle proudly says are all local materials sourced from Bulua, the pottery capital of the City.

The Spiers' wedding photo as well as some of Gary's sculptures are displayed in Michelle's office.

So how do they like being in MMV? Michelle says she loves being in MMV and is thinking that if she ever builds her own house it may have to be there. What she particularly likes is the sense of community and belongingness of the people in the village. "They do things together and the people are so well-knit," she says. Whenever her schedule allows, she makes it a point to participate in community activities, including playing badminton and attending the village's various religious activities. "You have to give importance to community building. You can't live life by yourself - you need your neighbors," she adds.

As her term as vice-mayor is due to expire next year, we asked her if she has plans of running for a higher office as rumors have it. She gives an impish smile and says, "I'm open." But it is obvious her priority at the moment is building a family together with her husband.

A Peaceful Retreat for a Corporate Couple

For a low-profile family with a laid-back lifestyle, the Pueblo Golf Estates was the obvious choice. Sydney and Amy Yap sought a view of the golf course when selecting their lot, but unfortunately at the time of their purchase there were no more fairway lots available in Cluster 2 of the Pueblo Golf Estates, so they decided instead on a 678 sq.m. property along Terrasse Lane which is still elevated enough to overlook the golf course.

To design their home, the Yaps enlisted the help of a close family friend and architect who incidentally also has a house in the Golf Estates just a few meters away from their new home. Having a friend design the house was an advantage, since they wanted a home based on their personality. Built in a modern yet classical style, the clean, simple but graceful lines of the house make the perfect foil for the natural beauty of the golf course. The house was built to take advantage of the sloping terrain of the lot. While from the front, the house looks like a single-storey bungalow, when you get inside it opens to a lower level.

Sydney, Amy and their son Kevin moved to their new home a year and a half ago. When asked which part of her new home was her favorite, Amy ticked off, "The family room and breakfast nook. We love staying in our new house. It's worth the time and money spent."

The atmosphere of the Pueblo Golf Estates is a far cry from the hectic corporate world the Yaps face every day. Sydney is a branch head of Metrobank while Amy is and agency manager for Philam Plans, Inc. The Yaps enjoy athletic activities such as swimming and badminton in their spare time. While they are not golfers, they have now added walking along the golf course on weekends to their list of favorite ways to unwind and may soon decide to learn together the game of golf. Even then, there's much to savor in their new location. "There's the view, the peaceful ambiance, and the fresh air," says Amy.

Balikbayans Come Home to the Golf Estates

Ervina and Harry in their living room.

Ervina Imperio Wilkinson was born and raised in Cagayan de Oro. She lived in Hong Kong for many years while husband Harry, an American national, worked there, first in banking, then in shipping. Now that Harry is retired from both jobs, they decided to purchase a home in Ervina's hometown. While the couple also have a home in Seattle, Washington, they like to escape the worst of the winter by basking here in Cagayan de Oro's balmy environs.

Ervina is an avid golfer, and two of their three sons have also taken up the sport, so Pueblo Golf Estates was the obvious choice for them. Harry, on the other hand, is not a golfer, favoring the all-American sports baseball and football. However, he is gamely willing to pick up his wife's sport and has even consented to taking a couple of golf lessons. In the meantime, he has become a familiar sight in his morning jogs around the Golf Estates.

The crisp white of the Wilkinson house is a cool complement to the green of the course. Their home was built to take full advantage of the view. French doors and two balconies overlook the fairway. From the bedrooms upstairs, a curving staircase leads down to the living and dining areas. A breakfast nook outside the kitchen connects the house with the backyard.

Ervina's favorite part of the house is her state-of-the-art kitchen. She loves to demonstrate how her stove rises and falls at the touch of a button. Yet the best feature of her kitchen could be the picture window. Overlooking the golf course, the window allows Ervina to revel in her two loves, cooking and golf, all at once.

Non-Golfers Come Home to Pueblo

Dulcisimo and Lydia at the balcony of their new home.

After 29 years of living the rat race in the United States, Engr. Dulcisimo Manago decided he�d had enough. He took an early retirement from his job as an engineer at Rockwell International. Their two daughters are married and have their own lives in the U.S., so rather than spend his days in what he terms the �downhill environment� of a nursing home, he and his wife Lydia, a teacher, decided to sell their house in Chicago and come home to the Philippines.

Mr. Manago is originally from Tangub City while Mrs. Manago is from Jimenez, Misamis Occidental. They knew right away that they didn�t want to settle in Manila due to the smog or in Cebu because it was getting too congested. They also explored other cities like Davao, Ozamiz and Oroquieta, but in the end, Cagayan de Oro won out. Not only do they have a few relatives here, but they also found Cagayan de Oro more centralized, making it easy to get to Manila, Cebu, Davao, or Misamis Occidental.

Their new home at Terrasse Lane in the Pueblo Golf Estates is filled with furniture and fixtures from 83 balikbayan boxes the Managos prepared in anticipation of their return. The Managos selected their house design from a housing catalog and had the blueprints modified by a local architect to fit the dimensions of their 618 sq.m. lot.

French doors open to the living room and three bedrooms in the upper storey, while the dining room, kitchen, utility areas, and servants� quarters are located below. A balcony opens from the living room to overlook the golf course.The kitchen and dining room open to the porch and backyard swimming pool. Construction started in mid-November 2004, and the Managos moved in eight months later.

Mr. Manago has no plans of starting a business or joining an association. �Retirement is retirement,� he stressed. They pass their time with bowling or indulging in long drives, like to visit relatives in Misamis Occidental. A car enthusiast, Mr. Manago has a sports car with cruise control that he enjoys driving on long stretches of highway. �It�s a good thing my wife enjoys driving,� quipped Mr. Manago, �otherwise she would always nag me."

The Managos plan to make this their permanent home, only intending to return to the States for special occasions. When asked whether he would recommend living here to other Filipinos abroad, Mr. Manago did not hesitate to answer. �Oh yeah!� he exclaimed. �I�m here!� Enough said.