No need for bank loan to rehabilitate hotel Imelda Marcos built — Tacloban mayor

By: Joey Gabieta - 2 years ago

TACLOBAN CITY — The local government here will no longer borrow money from the bank to rehabilitate the Leyte Park Resort Hotel.

“I went to Landbank two weeks ago to tell them that we don’t need the loan because we have enough money,” said Mayor Alfred Romualdez on Thursday, June 1.

This is in contrast to an earlier plan of the city government to secure a P500 million from the Landbank of the Philippines to renovate the Leyte Park Resort Hotel.

The city government was able to get the go signal from the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), an attached agency of the Department of Tourism which has a stake of the 6.1-hectare property constructed in 1979 by former first lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, aunt of the city mayor.

Aside from the TIEZA, the property is also owned by the provincial government of Leyte and the Privatization Management Office.

The property, located along Magsaysay Boulevard, was part of the Marcos properties sequestered by the government for allegedly being part of the ill-gotten wealth.

Romualdez said the design of a master plan for the rehabilitation of the hotel is now in its final stages.

The city mayor disclosed that aside from the hotel itself, the property will also have a convention center, an IT park, and areas for other commercial purposes.

The property was operated by a private corporation in 1994 and was abandoned in 2021 after it did not renew its lease contract.

Last year, Romualdez signified his intention for the city government to take over and manage the facility.

The hotel had 110 rooms with pool villas, infinity pools, a spa center, several restaurants, and a convention center that could accommodate 2,000 people.