GENERAL SANTOS CITY INDUSTRIAL TOUR | RD CORPORATION

I stayed for 2 days in General Santos City. That was actually a prelude to my trip in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato sponsored by the Tourism Department of the Province. Since that was my first trip on that part of the country I also explored the possibility of seeing what General Santos can offer. Fortunately, Mr. Jonalier Mana-ay Perez introduced me to Ms. Vienna Quinanahan Borro who happened to be a former executive of Negros Navigation Company. While Vienna and I didn’t meet personally when I was still on the same, our telephone conversation turned out to be very promising. Vienna is currently a tour operator (LVA Travel)  in General Santos City and she willingly sponsored and facilitated my 2-day trip to the city.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY INDUSTRIAL TOUR

My second day in General Santos City was the General Santos Industrial Tour which also interests me as I am still active in the corporate world with my consultancy business. The Industrial Tour is one of the offerings of LVA Travel. The tour includes a visit to various institutions in General Santos City which created an impact on the economy of the place.

START OF MY INDUSTRIAL TOUR

That was very early when Vienna fetch me from my hotel and brought me to the General Santos City Fish port. As expected I got so excited visiting the port as the place is one of the most popular spots in the city.

The visit to the General Santos City was a very good prelude to my Industrial Tour that day as the company which I will be visiting has Fishing being its flagship business – the RD Corporation.

After our visit to the Fish Port, I had my quick breakfast at the hotel and started to prepare myself for the whole day Industrial Tour.

ABOUT RD CORPORATION

Everyone knows RD Corporation in General Santos City being one of the biggest local conglomerate engaging in large scales industries, such as fishing, manufacturing, shipbuilding and repair, export marketing and distribution, agribusiness, finance, aquaculture and processing, realty, hotels, and resorts, as well as retail.

One can easily be inspired by the success story of RD Corporation. Starting in 1976 with the pawnshop business which was started by the CEO Rodrigo Rivera, Sr. and his loving wife Dolores Rivera. Soon in 1999, the RD Corporation became a holding company and became one of the fastest growing conglomerate in the Philippines. Amazingly, RD Corporation had grown into 43 subsidiaries and 12 affiliates.

Most of the businesses of RD Corporation if not all are operating all over the country and other countries in Melanesia, Southeast Asia and other parts of the world like America and Europe.

Dolores Farm Resort, just one of the hotel/resorts owned and operated by RD Corporation. Unfortunately, I was not able to stay in one of their hotels, hence, I cannot write much about this business of RD Corporation.

RD CORPORATION’S FISHING GROUP

RD Corporation’s flagship business is Fishing.It’s Fishing Group with over a hundred fishing vessels operating, including a steadily increasing fleet of purse seiners, is made up of companies based in General Santos City, Philippines, and Papua New Guinea.

These companies include:

• Bismark Pacific Sunrise Fishing Corp.
• Global Fishing Tuna Ventures Inc.
• Golden Anchor Marine Ventures Corp.
• Ocean Bounty Fishing Ventures Corp.
• Pacific Seas Tuna Ventures, Inc.
• Phil Sino Pacific Ventures Corporation
• RD Fishing Industry Inc.
• RD Tuna Ventures, Inc.
• South Pacific Allied Fisheries Corp.
• South Pacific Deep Sea Ventures Corp.
• South Sea Fishing Ventures Phils. Inc.
• Tropical Fishing Tuna Ventures Inc.
• RD Fishing PNG, Ltd. (PAPUA NEW GUINEA)

RD CORPORATION SHIPBUILDING AND REPAIR | GENSAN SHIPYARD AND MACHINE WORKS, INC.

Straight from Pacman Hotel, Mr. Joel Malabon and Ms. Vienna Boro brought me to the Gensan Shipyard and Machine Works, Inc. (GSMWI).

GSMWI started its operation in 1999 to cater to RD Fishing Group’s dry-docking, repair and construction needs.From then on, the company started to open its door to other companies including foreign clients with vessels docking in the Philippines.

some of the facilities of Gensan Shipyard and Machine Works, Inc. (GSMWI)

RD Corporation created the first facilities of its kind in Mindanao with 210,000 shipyard with the capability of full-scale ship repair, building, fabrication, and ship recycling. To date, the company has catered foreign vessel companies from Papua New Guinea, South Korea, and Taiwan. It is worth mentioning that the Gensan Shipyard and Machine Works, Inc. (GSMWI) has twin slipways with a combined lifting capacity of 10,000GRT and two floating dry-docks with a combined capacity of 4,000GRT.

with Joel Malabon, Marketing Manager of Dolores Group of Hotels, Vianna Borro and company staff

RD CORPORATION’S MANUFACTURING GROUP

After our visit to the Shipyard, we proceeded to one of the Manufacturing Company of RD Corporation. The company’s Manufacturing Group produces manufactured a wide array of export and local products for the Philippines and other countries like Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Europe, and America.

RD’s Manufacturing Group include the following companies:

Philbest Canning Corporation (PHI)
RD Tuna Canners Ltd. (PNG)
Melanesian ExImport Ltd. (PNG)
RD Pacific International (IND)
Packaging and printing
Allied Pacific Packaging Solutions Corp.
Industrial gas
Celebes Gas Corporation
Water and juice bottling
Seabest Foods and Beverage Corp.
Cold storage
Igloo Storage Complex Corp.

one of my most favorite part of the General Santos City Industrial Tour was the visit to  the Gensan Shipyard and Machine Works, Inc. (GSMWI)

After our visit to one canning company of RD Corporation Mr. Joel Malabon treated us for lunch with  one of the popular dish in General Santos – the Balbacua. The Balbacua is version of “nilaga”. I was surprised with the number of people visiting the place considering that it was not the usual – restaurant with nice ambiance where people would want to dine in. But who doesn’t like to eat in the place? Their bowl of Balbacua having a small portion of tender meat only cost PHP 25.00/bowl.  The place is perfect for budget conscious and for travelers who are curious about the popularity of the dish. I also suggest visiting the place during dinner place, as the dining area is quite warm.

getting the General Santos City Industrial Tour will let you to enter the processing plant of RDEX

RD CORPORATION’S AQUACULTURE AND PROCESSING

After our “balbacua” lunch, we proceeded to one of the processing plant of RD Corporation the RDEX. The general Santos City being the Tuna Capital of the Philippines inspired the owner to start the business 1990.

RDEX started as a cold storage facility and the first to establish cold stores in General Santos City and in Southern Mindanao. The business is processing yellowfin tuna, milkfish,  white shrimps, and other high valued marine products intended for export.As the company progress, they also expanded into value-adding of seafood products. Their products are distributed worldwide and also made available locally through its Tuna shops all over the country.

I was very impressed with the facilities and practices of the company complying with the International Food Safety Standards.

RD CORPORATION’S REALTY DEVELOPMENT

The rest of my afternoon was spent visiting swiftly other companies of RD Corporation.

RD Corporation is also engaged in realty development. The RD Realty Development Group is comprised of three core companies engaging in property management and leasing, land development as well as construction.

RD Companies under Realty Development

• RD Realty Development Corporation
• Richmond Builders Limited
• Richmond Land Innovations Inc.

My one day Industrial Tour just visiting several companies of RD Corporation was never enough. In fact, I have not visited yet most of their businesses which show how big the conglomerate is.

If you want to more about General Santos Industrial Tour, please contact Ms. Vienna Quinanahan Borro of LVA Travel at (083) 302 5242.