What are the opening hours?

Monday 09:00 - 18:00 Tuesday 09:00 - 18:00 Wednesday 09:00 - 18:00 Thursday 09:00 - 18:00 Friday 09:00 - 18:00

OPKO Finance, Sheung Wan (2026)

OUR VALUES

At the heart of all that we do are our organization values. We remain by them being the set of behaviors that we believe that every one of our people will embody to advance our ambitions for our business, our people and our communities. Our values are:

We're passionate about clients- our interest and client visions drive growth. We're fearless in following their maximum potential. We're creative, innovative, continually scanning for new ideas that drive growth and turning them over our business. We give ourselves and each other the liberty to succeed because this strengthen an entrepreneurial spirit. We believe in each other, we're open and challenging. We generally act as a group - when we're as one and when we're separated. We're proud for what we do and how we do it- we act skillfully with the highest guidelines of integrity and social responsibility. We appreciate and benefit from diversity. We will endeavor to be the best - we are fretful, continually learning, continually progressing. We continually set high standards and then try hard to surpass them. We deliver results, win where we are challenged and celebrate our success. We value each other - we pursue and benefit from diverse people and point of view. We endeavor to make mutually fulfilling relationships and partnerships.

11/10/2026

# 🇵🇭 INVESTING IN A RESORT IN THE PHILIPPINES: WHY ANALYZE CUSTOMER DEMAND BEFORE BUYING LAND?

Last August, I traveled to Bohol to assess the tourism development potential of two properties belonging to a client: one in San Miguel and the other in Guindulman, near Anda.

Two properties, two very different environments. But before considering their development potential or designing villas, I wanted to answer one fundamental question:

**Is there sufficient tourism demand to justify developing a resort in these locations?**

# # # 1. San Miguel: Why would tourists come here?

When assessing the property in San Miguel, I started by asking myself several questions.

Why would a tourist choose this destination rather than Panglao, Loboc or Anda? What tourist attractions are nearby? What activities could justify traveling to this area?

And above all, **why would visitors stay for two, three or four nights instead of just a few hours?**

A property may be beautiful, spacious and relatively inexpensive. That does not necessarily mean there is a market willing to stay there.

I therefore spoke with travel industry professionals to understand whether the area could genuinely attract tourists, which customer segments might be interested and how the location could fit into existing travel itineraries.

This is an essential step. It is not enough to imagine an attractive hospitality concept. We need to establish whether it responds to identifiable market demand.

# # # 2. Panglao and Loboc: Visiting existing resorts

I also spent time visiting several resorts in Panglao, including private villa developments, one of which belongs to another client of mine.

I then continued my observations around Loboc, where the tourism environment and accommodation concepts are quite different.

The objective was not simply to look at the architecture, facilities or quality of the rooms.

I wanted to understand how these businesses actually performed commercially.

During each visit, I sought information about occupancy rates, peak booking periods, average length of stay, customer profiles and main reservation channels.

These conversations helped me compare my own assumptions with the practical experience of resort operators.

**A beautiful resort is not necessarily a profitable resort. And a concept that works in Panglao will not automatically succeed in San Miguel.**

# # # 3. Booking, Agoda and Airbnb: Simple tools to observe market demand

Another useful exercise is to analyze the availability of competing properties on booking platforms.

Select several comparable resorts and check their availability across different periods, for example April, May and June, while accounting for the specific seasonality of each destination.

How many rooms or villas are still available? At what prices? Do weekends appear more heavily booked? Are certain accommodation categories more popular than others?

Repeat the exercise over several weeks.

If a property shows very limited availability several months in advance, this may be an interesting indicator of demand for its concept and market positioning.

Conversely, significant availability may justify further investigation. Is the price too high? Is the concept poorly adapted? Is the location less attractive? Is competition particularly strong? Or do customers simply book closer to their travel dates?

**One important caution: availability displayed online is not the same as an actual occupancy rate.** Some properties block rooms, do not release their full inventory or distribute bookings across several channels.

However, combining these observations with site visits and discussions with operators can provide valuable market insights.

# # # 4. Compare destinations, not just resorts

This is particularly important in a destination such as Bohol.

Panglao, Loboc, San Miguel and Guindulman do not necessarily have the same tourism drivers, customer segments or commercial potential.

We therefore need to compare not only competing properties, but also the destinations themselves.

Why do visitors travel there? How accessible is the area? How many nights are they willing to stay? What experiences are they looking for? How much are they prepared to spend on accommodation?

We must also distinguish between a location that attracts day visitors and a destination that actually generates overnight stays.

That distinction is fundamental for a hospitality investor.

# # # 5. The concept and the land must respond to commercial reality

Once market demand has been assessed, we can begin defining the hospitality product.

Should the project consist of four private villas with swimming pools, six simpler units, family accommodation or a small resort with shared facilities?

What average daily rate (ADR) can realistically be achieved? What occupancy assumptions should be used in the financial projections? What level of capital investment can the market justify?

The next step is to incorporate land acquisition costs, infrastructure, construction, operating expenses and investment risks to assess the project's financial viability.

Cheaper land does not necessarily represent a better investment.

A more expensive property, better positioned to capture tourism demand, may offer stronger economic potential. But this must be demonstrated through financial analysis.

# # # 6. My conclusion after visiting Bohol

One common investment mistake is to buy land because it is beautiful, accessible or attractively priced, and only afterward try to determine what type of resort could be built on it.

I prefer the opposite approach.

First, understand why tourists visit the destination, how long they stay and what they are looking for.

Then assess the competition, verify market pricing, examine seasonality and develop realistic commercial assumptions.

Next, define an appropriate concept and test its financial feasibility.

And only then determine whether the proposed land is genuinely suitable for the project.

**The land should serve the business model. The business model should not be invented to justify land that has already been purchased.**

That is precisely what I set out to investigate during my visits to Bohol.

And you? If you were considering investing in a resort in the Philippines, would you start by searching for land or by analyzing tourism demand?

04/10/2026

🇵🇭 VILLAS IN THE PHILIPPINES: HOW MUCH CAN THEY REALLY MAKE?

This is a question I regularly come across when discussing hospitality investment in the Philippines.

“A villa can rent for ₱10,000 per night. So with several villas, the project must be highly profitable.”

Not necessarily.

And more importantly, a villa advertised at ₱10,000 per night does not generate ₱300,000 per month.

Let’s take a very simple example.

ADR: ₱10,000
Occupancy: 50%
30 days × 50% = 15 nights sold

Theoretical monthly revenue:

👉 ₱150,000 per villa.

And we are still talking about revenue, before booking platform commissions, promotions, staff, electricity, water, pool, garden, housekeeping, laundry, maintenance, marketing, administration, insurance, applicable taxes and replacement of equipment.

So how do you determine whether 4, 6 or 10 villas actually represent a good investment?

In my view, the analysis needs to start much earlier.

🏝️ 1 — ADR IS NOT DECIDED ON AN EXCEL SPREADSHEET

One mistake would be to start with the project you want to build and then determine the ADR required to make it profitable.

The market does not work that way.

You can build a beautiful villa, invest heavily in architecture, a private pool and premium finishes, and conclude:

“To achieve my target return, I need to rent it for ₱15,000 per night.”

But if customers in that location are only prepared to pay ₱8,000 or ₱10,000, your additional CAPEX has not created additional demand.

More CAPEX does not automatically mean a higher ADR.

And more importantly:

MORE CAPEX ≠ HIGHER PROFITABILITY.

📊 2 — BEFORE THE BUSINESS PLAN: THE COMMERCIAL DIAGNOSTIC

Before deciding how much to invest, I would first try to understand the market.

Why do travelers come to this destination?

Who are they?

Couples?
Families?
Groups?
International tourists?
Filipino travelers?
Long-stay guests?

How long do they stay?

What are they actually looking for?

Which resorts and villas are already performing in the area?

At what prices?

With what positioning?

What services?

What type of experience?

What are their strengths and weaknesses?

And most importantly:

👉 what may still be missing from the market?

The commercial diagnostic should help define the customers you actually want to attract and the product they are prepared to buy.

📍 3 — THE CONCEPT MUST FIT THE SITE AND ITS CUSTOMERS

I believe the order of decisions is fundamental.

It should not be:

BUDGET
→ LAND
→ CONSTRUCTION
→ VILLAS
→ PRICE
→ THEN LOOK FOR CUSTOMERS.

I prefer:

DESTINATION
→ SITE
→ MARKET
→ CUSTOMER
→ COMPETITION
→ CONCEPT
→ TARGET ADR
→ TARGET OCCUPANCY
→ CAPEX
→ FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY.

The same concept will not necessarily work in Panglao, Loboc, Anda, Moalboal or an inland destination.

In one location, customers may be looking for premium villas with private pools, privacy and services.

Elsewhere, the value proposition may be more about nature, activities, longer stays or a more accessible price point.

The concept must therefore respond to the market around the site.

Not the other way around.

🏗️ 4 — ARCHITECTURE IS ALSO A FINANCIAL DECISION

Once the target customers, concept and positioning have been defined, the architecture should deliver the required experience with a coherent CAPEX.

Will a private pool genuinely increase ADR or occupancy?

Will a 90 sqm villa generate enough additional revenue compared with a 60 sqm villa to justify the additional cost?

Do you need a large reception?

A restaurant?

Extensive common areas?

Or will your customers value privacy and private spaces more?

Every additional peso invested should ideally answer one question:

Will this expenditure:

→ increase ADR?
→ improve occupancy?
→ extend the average stay?
→ materially improve the guest experience?
→ reduce operating costs?
→ or sustainably increase the value of the asset?

If not, you should ask whether it is really necessary.

🏘️ 5 — 4 VILLAS OR 6 VILLAS? THE MATH IS NOT PROPORTIONAL

It would be easy to assume:

4 villas cost X.
Therefore, 6 villas simply cost 50% more.

In reality, this is not always the case.

Before selling the first night, a project may require:

• access roads
• electrical connection and distribution
• water supply and storage
• drainage
• wastewater and sewage systems
• internet and networks
• technical rooms
• outdoor lighting
• landscaping
• potentially reception and common areas.

Part of this investment is fixed or semi-fixed.

Building 4 villas instead of 6 therefore does not necessarily reduce these costs by 33%.

Conversely, adding two villas may sometimes allow infrastructure and certain operating costs to be allocated more efficiently.

This is where another indicator becomes useful:

👉 CAPEX PER KEY.

But even that should never be considered in isolation.

Adding villas simply to better absorb infrastructure costs makes no sense if the market cannot absorb the additional room nights.

🏝️ 6 — A REAL EXAMPLE FROM PANGLAO

I have a client in Panglao who had already developed a resort.

He subsequently developed a second project on neighboring land, with a very different concept based on more atypical villas.

One could immediately identify a risk:

👉 two investments in the same destination, creating greater geographic concentration.

That is true.

But the proximity also created a very tangible economic advantage.

Part of the infrastructure and connections developed for the first project could benefit the second one.

Electrical installations, networks and certain connections could be shared or connected much more efficiently.

The CAPEX of the second project was therefore structurally different from what exactly the same concept would have required if developed independently on an isolated site.

Potentially, some operating functions can also be shared.

This is a good example of why I am cautious about applying theoretical models uniformly to every project.

💰 7 — ONLY THEN DO WE CALCULATE PROFITABILITY

Let’s return to our villa with a ₱10,000 ADR and 50% occupancy.

It theoretically generates approximately:

₱150,000 per month
or
₱1.825M per year.

For 4 villas:

👉 approximately ₱7.3M in theoretical annual revenue.

For 6 villas:

👉 approximately ₱10.95M.

At first glance, this looks attractive.

But this is still not the investor’s return.

We then need to deduct:

• OTA commissions
• promotions and discounts
• salaries
• housekeeping
• laundry
• electricity
• water
• pool and garden
• maintenance
• consumables
• marketing
• administration
• insurance
• applicable taxes and licenses
• replacement of furniture and equipment.

This gives us the operating performance.

Only then can we compare it with the capital actually committed:

LAND
+
CONSTRUCTION
+
INFRASTRUCTURE
+
EQUIPMENT
+
FURNITURE & FIT-OUT
+
PRE-OPENING
+
WORKING CAPITAL.

It is the relationship between the cash flow actually generated and the total capital invested that starts to tell us whether the project makes economic sense.

📉 8 — A HIGHER ADR CAN PARADOXICALLY PRODUCE A LOWER ROI

Imagine two concepts in the same market.

CONCEPT A

ADR: ₱8,000
Relatively controlled CAPEX
Good occupancy
A product perfectly adapted to its customers.

CONCEPT B

ADR: ₱12,000
Much more expensive architecture
Larger pools and more amenities
Significantly higher CAPEX.

Concept B generates more revenue per occupied night.

But if the additional ₱4,000 in ADR requires disproportionate additional investment and occupancy is lower, Concept A may ultimately produce a better return on invested capital.

That is why I am not necessarily looking for:

THE HIGHEST ADR.

I am looking for:

👉 THE BEST BALANCE BETWEEN REVENUE, CAPEX, OPERATING COSTS AND RISK.

📈 9 — MULTIPLE SCENARIOS NEED TO BE TESTED

A proper feasibility study should never rely on a single assumption.

For a villa project, I would test, for example:

ADR:
₱8,000 / ₱10,000 / ₱12,000

Occupancy:
35% / 50% / 65%

Number of villas:
4 / 6

Then I would assess the impact on:

REVENUE
→ OPERATING PROFIT
→ CASH FLOW
→ ROI
→ PAYBACK.

This allows us to understand which variables actually drive profitability and at what point the assumptions become too optimistic.

🇵🇭 10 — THERE IS NO UNIVERSAL FORMULA FOR A VILLA PROJECT IN THE PHILIPPINES

This is probably the most important point.

There is no:

“ideal number of villas.”

There is no:

“ideal CAPEX per villa.”

There is no:

“ideal ADR.”

And above all, there is no hospitality concept that can simply be replicated everywhere in the Philippines.

Every investment must be assessed according to its specific configuration.

MARKET
→ SITE
→ CUSTOMER
→ COMPETITION
→ CONCEPT
→ INFRASTRUCTURE
→ NUMBER OF UNITS
→ CAPEX
→ ADR
→ OCCUPANCY
→ OPEX
→ CASH FLOW
→ ROI.

The financial model must be built around the reality of the project.

The project should not be forced into a standard financial model.

Before buying the land or designing the villas, I would therefore always start with three very simple questions:

👉 WHO WILL ACTUALLY STAY HERE?

👉 HOW MUCH IS THIS CUSTOMER REALLY PREPARED TO PAY?

👉 HOW MANY NIGHTS PER YEAR CAN I REALISTICALLY SELL?

Only then would I determine the concept, number of units and CAPEX that the market can economically justify.

Because in hospitality, the best project is not necessarily the one where the most money has been invested.

It is the one that most intelligently converts invested capital into guest experience, revenue and, ultimately, return.

🇵🇭 SETTLING & INVESTING IN THE PHILIPPINES – PERLES DES PHILIPPINES

28/09/2026

🇵🇭 I HAVE ₱20 MILLION TO INVEST IN THE PHILIPPINES: WHAT CAN I REALISTICALLY DO?

₱20 million — approximately €300,000 — already represents significant investment capital in the Philippines.

But if someone asked me:

“I have ₱20 million. What should I invest in in the Philippines?”

I probably would not start by recommending a condominium, land or a business.

I would start with a few questions:

👉 What return are you looking for?
👉 How much risk are you prepared to accept?
👉 Do you want a relatively passive investment or do you want to operate a real business?
👉 How long can your capital remain invested?
👉 Do you need regular income?
👉 And most importantly: does the ₱20M represent all your available capital, or only the amount you have decided to allocate to the Philippines?

Because exactly the same ₱20 million can support completely different investment strategies.

🏢 1 — RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE: PRIORITIZING SIMPLICITY

The first option many people consider is buying a condominium for rental.

The model is relatively straightforward:

BUY
→ RENT
→ GENERATE INCOME
→ HOLD OR SELL

But investors need to look beyond the advertised rent.

Acquisition cost, furnishing, condominium dues, maintenance, vacancies, management, taxation and resale conditions all need to be considered.

Take a simple example.

A condominium purchased for ₱10M and rented for ₱45,000 per month generates ₱540,000 in annual rent — 5.4% of the acquisition price before expenses and vacancies.

The net return will necessarily be lower.

That does not make it a bad investment.

It simply means understanding what you are buying: a tangible asset, relatively straightforward management and potential capital appreciation, but generally more limited returns than a successful operating business.

🏗️ 2 — BUYING OFF-PLAN: COMMITTING CAPITAL PROGRESSIVELY

Another common real estate strategy in the Philippines is buying a condominium several years before completion.

Payments are typically spread over time:

• reservation deposit
• down payment
• monthly installments during construction
• substantial balance upon completion

If construction takes four or five years, the investor does not necessarily deploy all the capital immediately.

Part of the strategy may therefore rely on potential appreciation between project launch, completion and the years following delivery.

Over recent years, I have seen some investments where values increased by 10%, 20% or even 30% over several years.

But this should never be considered automatic or guaranteed.

The outcome depends on the entry price, developer, location, future supply, demand and resale market.

And one element should never be forgotten:

👉 THE BALANCE DUE AT COMPLETION.

A ₱15M condominium may appear relatively light on cash requirements during the first few years.

But if ₱8M or ₱10M remains payable upon delivery, the investor should know from the beginning how that balance will be funded:

Cash?
Bank financing?
Holding the property?
Selling it?

It is also important to distinguish between:

ASKING PRICE
≠
TRANSACTION PRICE
≠
NET CASH RECOVERED AFTER COSTS AND TAXES

🌴 3 — VILLAS / HOSPITALITY: TWO POTENTIAL SOURCES OF VALUE CREATION

Tourist villas are, in my view, one of the investment scenarios with significant potential — but also one requiring substantial expertise.

Why?

Because the investment can potentially create value in two different ways.

The first is operational.

If the project is well located, properly designed and professionally managed:

ADR
×
OCCUPANCY
×
NUMBER OF UNITS

can generate revenue and ultimately cash flow after operating expenses.

The second is the underlying real estate.

If the project is developed on well-selected land in a growing location, the investor also owns a real estate asset that may appreciate over time.

The investment can therefore potentially combine:

OPERATING RETURN
+
APPRECIATION OF THE LAND AND PROPERTY

Neither, however, is guaranteed.

And hospitality is a specialized business.

The entire chain matters:

MARKET
→ CUSTOMER
→ SITE
→ CONCEPT
→ ARCHITECTURE
→ CAPEX
→ ADR
→ OCCUPANCY
→ OPERATIONS
→ CASH FLOW

Building attractive villas and a swimming pool is not enough.

Location, accessibility, tourism demand, architecture, privacy, infrastructure, wastewater management, energy costs and operational quality can all directly affect returns.

Architecture itself is part of the business model.

Good design should maximize guest experience and land utilization while controlling CAPEX.

🤝 CO-INVESTING CAN MAKE SENSE

For someone entering hospitality for the first time, I would seriously consider co-investing with experienced partners rather than carrying the entire risk alone.

Not simply to share capital.

But also to share:

• risk
• experience
• market knowledge
• technical expertise
• development
• operations

Provided, of course, that governance, responsibilities, contributions and exit conditions are clearly defined.

A bad partnership can create as much risk as it is supposed to reduce.

🏗️ 4 — LAND + PHASED DEVELOPMENT

Another approach is not to deploy the entire ₱20M immediately.

Imagine:

Land: ₱5M
Phase 1 — 2 villas + essential infrastructure: ₱7M
Launch and working capital: ₱2M

Initial capital committed:

👉 approximately ₱14M

That leaves ₱6M available.

The idea is:

PHASE 1
→ TEST THE MARKET
→ MEASURE ADR AND OCCUPANCY
→ ADJUST THE CONCEPT
→ THEN DECIDE ON PHASE 2

This avoids committing all the capital before obtaining real operating data.

Of course, phased development cannot turn a poor location into a good one.

The market and site still need to be properly selected from the beginning.

💼 5 — INVESTING IN A BUSINESS: HIGHER POTENTIAL RETURN, BUT HIGHER RISK

With ₱20M, another option is to create, acquire or invest in a business.

This is probably where value creation has the least obvious ceiling.

A successful company can increase sales, improve margins, open additional locations and potentially increase substantially in value.

The Philippines offers many opportunities, particularly around the development of consumer markets.

But a large market does not guarantee success.

A large population is not your market.

Your market consists of people who:

NEED YOUR PRODUCT
+
CAN AFFORD IT
+
ARE ACCESSIBLE
+
WILL CHOOSE YOU OVER THE COMPETITION

This means analyzing:

• customers
• competition
• pricing
• margins
• fixed costs
• inventory
• logistics
• employees
• working capital
• taxation
• legal structure
• financing
• downside scenarios

💡 START WITH WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW

One approach I particularly like is not arriving in the Philippines asking:

“What business should I open?”

Instead, start with expertise you already possess and determine whether it can be adapted to the Philippine market.

I have, for example, a client with substantial experience in home furniture and strong expertise in sourcing products from China.

He already understood suppliers, products, purchasing costs, margins and the supply chain.

He used that experience to develop a concept in the Philippines that was still relatively underrepresented in the market.

After adapting it to Philippine consumers, pricing, logistics and locations, several stores were progressively developed in major urban areas, and the business is performing very well today.

What makes the example interesting is the combination:

EXISTING EXPERTISE
+
A PHILIPPINE MARKET WITH ROOM TO DEVELOP

rather than trying to discover a new country and a new industry at the same time.

📈 TEST BEFORE YOU SCALE

Particularly in consumer businesses, I also prefer a progressive approach:

CONCEPT
→ FIRST LOCATION
→ TEST
→ MEASURE
→ ADJUST
→ SECOND LOCATION
→ SCALE

What actually sells?

At what price?

At what margin?

To which customers?

How often do they return?

And most importantly: does the first location generate enough cash flow to justify the next one?

The Philippines is not one uniform market.

Makati, Cebu, Iloilo, Dumaguete or a tourism destination may require very different positioning.

But that diversity can also create opportunities for concepts that can be tested, adapted and then replicated.

💰 6 — WHAT IF THE BEST DECISION IS NOT TO INVEST THE ENTIRE ₱20M?

Having ₱20M available does not mean you need to invest ₱20M.

You could decide:

₱10M into a project
+
₱10M kept available.

Or:

₱12M into Phase 1
+
₱8M deployed only if the results justify further investment.

Liquidity has value.

It provides protection against unexpected events and allows investors to take advantage of future opportunities.

More importantly, it prevents investors from having to continue funding a poor project simply because all their capital has already been committed.

🇵🇭 SO, ARE THERE REAL INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE PHILIPPINES?

Yes.

There are opportunities across different capital levels and industries.

Real estate.
Hospitality.
Retail.
Consumer markets.
Services.
Businesses.

Some can offer very attractive return potential.

But risks exist as well.

And there is no single uniform “Philippine market.”

A concept that works in Makati may not work in Cebu.

A business that performs in Cebu may produce very different results in Dumaguete.

Two properties located only a few kilometers apart can have completely different economics.

In hospitality, a relatively small difference in location can materially affect ADR, occupancy and therefore return on investment.

📊 WHATEVER THE INVESTMENT, THE PROCESS REMAINS THE SAME

I do not believe investors should rush into a project simply because land appears cheap, a condominium looks attractive or a business concept sounds exciting.

The analysis should be numerical, documented and carefully considered.

The process should be:

MARKET
↓
CUSTOMER
↓
LOCATION
↓
COMPETITION
↓
CONCEPT
↓
CAPEX
↓
POTENTIAL REVENUE
↓
OPERATING COSTS
↓
CASH FLOW
↓
RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Most importantly, CAPEX should not be determined before understanding the market potential.

The question is not:

“I have ₱20M. What can I build?”

It should be:

“I have identified genuine demand. How much capital is reasonably justified to serve that demand, and what return can I realistically expect?”

🌏 AND THE NUMBERS MUST BE TESTED ON THE GROUND

An Excel spreadsheet is not enough.

You need to go and see.

Look at access.

Understand the environment.

Visit competitors.

Look at their pricing.

Identify their customers.

Assess infrastructure.

Understand the dynamics of the area.

And test the assumptions in the financial model against local reality.

This is particularly important in the Philippines, where two islands, two cities — and sometimes two nearby locations — can have completely different economics.

With ₱20 million, there are many things you can do in the Philippines.

But the real question is not:

“Where can I invest ₱20 million?”

It is:

👉 “Where can I intelligently deploy my capital to achieve a return consistent with the risk I am prepared to take?”

For me, the process remains the same:

ANALYZE.
QUANTIFY.
VERIFY ON THE GROUND.
TEST THE ASSUMPTIONS.
MEASURE THE RISK.
ONLY THEN INVEST.

Because a good investment does not begin with an opportunity.

👉 It begins with analysis.

If you had ₱20 million to invest in the Philippines today, what approach would you consider?

🏢 Rental real estate?
🏗️ Off-plan property?
🌴 Hospitality?
💼 Business?
📈 Phased development?
💰 Or keeping a significant portion of the capital available?

🇵🇭 SETTLING & INVESTING IN THE PHILIPPINES – PEARLS OF THE PHILIPPINES

24/09/2026

🇵🇭 BUYING LAND IN THE PHILIPPINES: THE CHEAPEST LAND MAY NOT BE THE BEST INVESTMENT

When evaluating land for a hospitality or real estate project, price per square meter is often the first number investors look at.

But it can also be misleading.

Over the past months, I have reviewed several properties in Bohol, and three cases illustrate this well.

In Loboc, I looked at land offered at less than ₱1,000/m².

The location and price were attractive, but the land was classified for agricultural use. Access, water and infrastructure also required further assessment.

This did not necessarily make it a bad investment. The question was whether the additional procedures, time and costs could be absorbed while preserving the economics of the project.

I later analyzed two sites for the same owner: one in San Miguel and another in Guindulman, near Anda.

San Miguel was significantly cheaper, but had elevation changes, water constraints and, more importantly, questions around the ADR and occupancy realistically achievable in that location.

Guindulman was more expensive and technically more challenging, with slopes, rocks and additional development requirements.

But its coastal location and proximity to Anda offered much stronger commercial potential.

👉 The cheaper land did not necessarily offer the better return on investment.

📊 A SIMPLE EXAMPLE

Consider two 3,000 m² properties.

Land A at ₱1,000/m²: ₱3M
Land B at ₱5,000/m²: ₱15M

At first sight, the choice seems obvious.

But assume Land A requires ₱9.5M for access, earthworks, drainage, water and electricity, while Land B requires only ₱2M.

Pre-construction costs become:

Land A: ₱12.5M
Land B: ₱17M

The original ₱12M difference has fallen to only ₱4.5M.

Now assume six villas cost ₱24M to develop.

Total investment:

Project A: ₱36.5M
Project B: ₱41M

Again, only ₱4.5M apart.

💰 NOW LOOK AT REVENUE POTENTIAL

Project A:
₱4,000 ADR
25% occupancy
6 villas
≈ ₱2.19M annual accommodation revenue

Project B:
₱10,000 ADR
50% occupancy
6 villas
≈ ₱10.95M annual accommodation revenue

These figures are purely illustrative. A proper feasibility study must also consider operating costs, taxes, financing, working capital and sensitivity scenarios.

But the investment principle is simple:

LAND
+ SITE DEVELOPMENT
+ INFRASTRUCTURE
+ CONSTRUCTION
+ PRE-OPENING CAPEX

against:

REALISTIC ADR
× REALISTIC OCCUPANCY
× AVAILABLE INVENTORY
– OPERATING COSTS

= CASH FLOW AND RETURN ON INVESTED CAPITAL

A low acquisition price does not necessarily mean a low project cost.

And a low project cost does not necessarily mean a good investment.

The relevant question is not simply:

“How much does the land cost per square meter?”

It is:

“How much capital will the project require, what cash flow can it realistically generate, and what return am I receiving for the capital and risk involved?”

That is the difference between evaluating land and evaluating an investment.

Address

Sheung Wan

Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 18:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 18:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 18:00
Thursday	09:00 - 18:00
Friday	09:00 - 18:00

Website

http://www.opkofinance.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when OPKO Finance posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

OPKO Finance