By Marchel P. Espina / Philippines News Agency
MURCIA, Negros Occidental—A retirement home and caregiver center operated by Japanese firm Sanko Group of Cos. was inaugurated inside the Mambukal Resort here on Friday.
The opening rites was led by Vice Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Sanko Group Chairman Kaicho Hatsue Kato and Country Manager Hideaki Tanahashi.
Lacson, acting governor this week since Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. is in Australia for a business trip, said although the facility will cater to Japanese retirees, Filipino caregivers will be hired to work at the retirement center.
It will generate employment and allow the province foster stronger ties with the Japanese group, he added.
In March 2015 Marañon and Tanahashi signed a 25-year contract of lease for the establishment of Sanko Mambukal Life Care Home, which used to be the Governor’s Lodge in Mambukal.
The lease for the property is P100,000 per month, or P1.2 million annually. After the signing, the lessee already paid its advance rental and deposit as stipulated in the contract.
The two-story structure, estimated to be worth P40 million, includes private rooms with complete amenities, toilet and baths, kitchen, living room, garden, dipping pool, classrooms and dormitory, among others. It can accommodate 10 Japanese elderly expected to arrive in the province by the end of the year.
About 120 caregiver-trainees can be accommodated for the training that will run for six months, including Basic Japanese Care Giving and Japanese language on a “study now, pay later” scheme.
Mambukal Resort, owned and operated by the provincial government of Negros Occidental, “lies 1,200 feet above sea level and serves as a gateway to Mount Kanlaon Natural Park”, according to the resort’s web site.
Located in a sprawling 23.6 hectares, Mambukal has “a big mountain stream, fed by several tributaries, descending in a series of seven waterfalls and cutting through the center of the resort, feeding the water holes and boating lagoon,” it said.
The resort also “boasts a number of hot sulfur springs whose medicinal waters are a balm for the weary flesh and continually feels the warm dipping pool Ishiwata Bathhouse and the newly constructed Japanese Ofuro.”