My Experience in Attending the LEC Investment Forum in Manila

Ni Oggie Medina

A day before the Luzon Economic Corridor Investment Forum event, we were told to get our media/press badge at the cozy Manila Grand Hyatt hotel in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Taguig City.

The next day, just before 8 a.m., I was already inside the venue. I sat at Table No. 27. A young Indonesian business executive, Willy Halim, co-founder and chief technology officer of BANIQL, a sustainable nickel extraction technology company, befriended me. Later, three Filipinos — Engr. Panfilo S. Jurilla of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Mary Lou Cunanan of Manila Times and Ma.Consolacion C. Mercado of Energy Secure Philippines – were happy to meet me.

All guests were waiting for the arrival of Philippine President Bongbong Marcos and there was a delay in time schedule for the security was too tight. US Ambassador Lee Lipton was already in the venue. I also saw Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer Thomas R. Hardy of the US Trade and Development Agency.

Also seen were Philippine Department of Finance Secretary Frederick Go, Philippine Department of Economy, Planning, and Development Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, and Ono Sho, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of Japan to the Republic of the Philippines.

Later I joined my boss, Asian Journal Publications’ Publisher and CEO Roger Oriel, a Filipino-American, on a table where most media persons were seated. Then Japanese Taisuke Kikuchi, Manila Bureau Chief of Kyodo News, befriended me. I remember I was years ago a correspondent for Asahi Shimbun and The Japan Times newspapers.

Interestingly, the LEC Investment Forum was in collaboration with the Governments of the United States, the Republic of the Philippines, and Japan. It brought together more than 650 international investors, industry leaders, and senior government officials.

The said forum served as a dynamic platform to foster commercial partnerships and mobilize private-sector investment across the Luzon Economic Corridor.

During lunch time at the Grand Hyatt Hotel’s garden pavilion, I joined the LEC Investment Forum press conference under the aegis of US Embassy Manila. Later in the mid-afternoon I participated in a virtual press briefing on the outcomes of the Luzon Economic Corridor Investment Forum with Ambassador Heather Variava, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs; Thomas R. Hardy; and Dan Petrie, Acting Chief of Staff of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

At break time, I met Jean Jacquelyn Nathania A. De Castro, amiable and intelligent CEO of ESCA Engineering. We had a lengthy, pleasant conversation.

Then I, together with other media representatives, had briefly interviewed Agnes Devanadera, who is currently the president and CEO of Clark Development Corporation since her appointment by Pres. Bongbong Marcos in 2022.

Certainly, the LEC Investment Forum underscored the unified commitment of the United States, the Philippines, Japan, and partner governments to advance high-impact infrastructure projects that strengthen global supply chains, enhance connectivity, and support long-term economic growth in the Philippines.