Farmhouse resort rises in Silang: Police general turns entrepreneur
Retired Police Gen. Romeo “Bogs” Magsalos has a varied background: police work and public safety, agriculture, public administration, the arts and finance.
He is also highly educated, having BS degrees in agriculture (agronomy and animal husbandry), BS in Public Safety, PhD in public administration, PhD in development administration (major in public governance) and finally, a postdoctoral program in strategic management and leadership.
Not least in his curriculum vitae is his stint as an actor during his student days at the Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City (1979 to 1980). He was part of the acclaimed Kambayoka, a drama group that staged musical plays and modern zarzuela, and was founded by playwright-director Frank Rivera, who remains a close friend.
Twenty-three years later, he was back at MSU as a vice president for administration and finance.
Those who knew him during his early days at the university couldn’t believe it. The general reaction was something like this: “What?! Bogs Magsalos, that Kambayoka actor, is now our vice president for administration and finance?!”
Magsalos obtained his BS in Public Safety from the Philippine National Police Academy in Silang, Cavite. He had risen from the ranks until he retired in 2016 as a one-star general. That was when his thoughts turned to business.
“Ever since I was a young boy, I already experienced the hardships in life,” he recalls in an interview.
“I grew up with parents who were struggling to make ends meet. My mother had a small sari-sari (variety) store and she would always send me on an errand to buy some items. This experience taught me that early to become an entrepreneur.”
Fund raising
By 2019, he was ready to fulfill his dream project—a farmhouse resort called Old Buddies, an influence perhaps of his police background. Through the sale of his condo unit in Taguig City, retirement money and bank loans (he had worked in a bank as a technician), he was able to raise P4 million.
He purchased a one-hectare property in Silang set amid rolling hills, a lot of trees and thick foliage, beyond which you could see the summit of Tagaytay, 15 minutes away.
Little by little, as he put it, he and his team set out to construct the farmhouse resort. There were no business partners; he was the sole proprietor. And he did not consult an architect.
There are now two villas that can accommodate at least 15 persons: an Ifugao House with a chess set and indigenous sculpture and an Ayangan House; comfortable single rooms, a reception area with a distinct native, masculine ambience; an attractive swimming pool, which is the kids’ delight and other amenities.
Specialties of the house include Chicken Wings Unlimited and Mushroom Burgers.
The operations manager is the only daughter Princess Joy Magsalos-Maceda.
Return on investment
“I made it different from the usual,” says Magsalos. “If you like it, that means you like my artistry. What you see is the artist in me. When people say they like it, you know, I feel a sense of fulfillment. Everything that you see here is by me. I don’t know if it’s contemporary or modern, it’s just what is in my mind.”
It gets very cold here at the end of the year.
Isn’t this resort business risky considering Silang is very near Tagaytay, which is a prime tourist market? Magsalos replies, “visitors and diners (Old Buddies had a soft opening recently) all admit it could be a good option to Tagaytay and Pansol (Laguna).”
A manager of a top hotel in Makati City once told me that a major investment usually makes a profit after seven years. So when does the general-turned-entrepreneur expect to recover his investment?
Mutual friend Philip Panganiban chimes in, “Silang offers a cheaper alternative to Tagaytay, where the value of real estate and taxes is a premium. Therefore, Gen. Bogs can afford to buy a more spacious lot in Silang, and he doesn’t have to jack up the fees para bawiin lang ang (to hasten the) ROI (return on investment).”
Magsalos opines, “with the rate of booking reservations the resort is making, I expect ROI would be achieved, conservatively, in four years.”
