UCPB has extended an P800-million five-year term loan to Korean property developer, Phil BXT Corp., to complete the construction of a 556-room luxury hotel on its Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort and Spa development in Mactan, Cebu.

The eight-hectare resort complex is expected to become a major draw for local and foreign tourists alike when it opens this year. Apart from the excellent beach, the resort will offer world-class water park, spa and marine sports facilities.

Phil BXT Corp. is tapping the internationally renowned Imperial Hotel of Seoul to manage the resort's operation. It picked Imperial Hotel to leverage the multi-awarded chain's presence in Korea and Japan, which are the resort's key target markets.

Cebu is a favorite destination of foreign visitors. About one-fifth of the tourists arriving in the Philippines go to the province and the number keeps growing every year such that demand for rooms of international standard is already outpacing supply. Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort and Spa will fill up the lack.

The scale of the resort's operation is sure to create a significant number of new jobs and subsidiary businesses in Cebu and provide a big boost to the province's tourism industry.

UCPB has always been supportive of Cebu. It has been operating in the province for decades, and has eight branches there offering a wide range of financial services from deposits to loans to investments in trust and treasury products.

Sweet, angelic voices filled the vast lobby of the UCPB Main Office Branch in Makati Avenue last month as 11 chorales from the bank's head office units, Metro Manila branches and subsidiary companies competed in the “Himig at Kulay ng Pasko” carol competition organized by the Employee Programs Committee.

With characteristic UCPB determination, all the chorales came prepared, putting in hours of practice during lunch breaks and even staying after regular office work to perfect their presentation. Come performance time, their blending was impeccable, their choreography superb, and their costumes simple yet exquisite.

But at the end of the nearly three-hour carol fest, the voices of the associates from East Metro Manila Region (EMMR) proved the most melodious and uplifting to the judges. The Corporate and Consumer Banking Group took second place, and Information Technology and Management Group came in third.