Head of the Consular Chancery, Embassy of Italy in Manila
We wish to thank Italpinas Development Corporation for inviting us to have a meet-and-greet with Sig. Antonio Gallo, Head of the Consular Chancery, Embassy of Italy in Manila on Thursday, 13 October 2022, at the roof deck of the new Cita Bella.
During this event, Sig. Gallo was introduced to members of the local business community which included members of the Oro Chamber, Misamis Oriental Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (MOFCCCII) including PRO Emerson Chiu and local tycoon Boboy Go; Atty. Carlo Antonio B. Almirante, member of the GSIS Board of Trustees; Atty. Coreine V. Sarraga, assistant regional director, Department of Human Settlements & Urban Development-Region 10; and representatives of the local government led by Councilor Malvern Esparcia, Local Economic Development and Investment Promotions Officer John W. Asuncion, City Information Officer Ivy Guantero, and officers of the CIO Press Corps headed by President Dante M. Sudaria.
In a one-on-one chat with this author, Sig. Gallo said he was visiting Cagayan de Oro as a representative of the Italian Embassy in Manila.
“We have an interest in the northern part of Mindanao because there is a lot of opportunities.”
However, although he said he is primarily concerned as Head of the Italian Embassy Consular Chancery in Manila with extending consular assistance by assisting and advising expatriate Italians who are living or traveling in the Philippines, he would still submit a report about his findings to the commercial section of the embassy.
“What I will do regarding the business community I met and the Mayor this morning, I will report to our Commercial Office in the Embassy,” Sig. Gallo said. “My background is also economics and commerce, I served in Jeddah as an economic commercial officer, it’s a subject I’m familiar with.”
The Italo-Kagay-anon
He praised Italian Architect Romolo Valentino B. Nati as an example of how active the Italians are here in the Philippines.
“He is one of the most successful business persons and we admire him, we appreciate what he has done. He is doing business in an area where 20 years ago nobody would have taught much about. He has intuition and is obviously a very good business person, and he has managed to interpret the needs of the city of Cagayan de Oro, and has contributed to develop an area which not many years ago was not so developed,” Gallo noted.
Nati is an Italian architect and businessman who employs his knowledge in biomimicry to create sustainable real-estate and energy projects who came to the Philippines and introduced “green architecture”.
In 2009, Nati and Jose D. Leviste III, a Sydney-based Filipino lawyer, founded Italpinas Euroasian Design and Eco-development Corporation (ITPI). ITPI was later renamed Italpinas Development Corporation (IDC), with Nati as Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Leviste as President.
Envisioning a “green future” for the Philippines, IDCs principal services are real estate development and general design, including architectural, site-planning and survey, construction, interior design and management with specialization of alternative and environmentally friendly design. IDC also specializes in green housing design and construction.
Just six years after its establishment, IDCheld its initial public offering (IPO) on Monday, December 7, 2015.
IDCs first project is Primavera Residences, a mixed-use condominium at the Pueblo de Oro Business Park in Cagayan de Oro City.
IDC won the 2014 Pacific Property Award for Best Mixed-Use Development in the Philippines and the 2011 Southeast Asia Property Award (SEAPA) for Best Condo Development in the Philippines. The company was also a finalist in the Most Promising Clean Energy Investment Opportunities at the 2010 CTI-PFAN Asia Forum for Clean Energy.
Among its projects are Primavera Residences, the first eco-friendly mixed-use development in Cagayan de Oro, a 10-storey twin-building complex comprising residential, commercial and office spaces. The complex is designed with passive cooling features that minimize the impact on the environment.
Primavera City IDC’s second ground breaking project in Uptown Cagayan de Oro, a seven-tower building with the first six composed of commercial, office and residential units in a total of twelve floors, while the seventh is a 32-storey hotel tower. This integrated building is designed with both passive and active green strategies such as semi-transparent photovoltaic panels, rain harvesting and cooling system.
Verona Green Apartments, a joint venture project in Uptown Cagayan de Oro consisting of a series of four-storey walk-up green buildings offering both residential and commercial space, is the company’s first venture into the economic housing market.
Coral City in Quezon City, a 30,000 square-meter self-sustaining and weather-proof architectural design concept for a mixed-use socialized housing project (residential and commercial). Miramonti in Santo Tomas, Batangas, an advanced green complex comprising residential, commercial and parking spaces. The complex will be using renewable and self-sustaining energy while also boasting passive cooling technology in the complex, and A Shelter of Light, a design concept using recyclable materials for an eco-friendly, self-sustaining multipurpose public hall in Payatas, Quezon City.
Courtesy Call
Earlier the same day, Gallo and Italian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines Executive Director Lorens Ziller paid a courtesy call to City Mayor Rolando “Klarex” Uy at the Mayor’s Office in City Hall.
The IDC party included Chief Operations Officer Giuseppe Garofalo, Senior Director for Operations Clara Elizaga, Senior PR Manager and In-House Designer Ar. Giovanni Gusela, and Senior Sales Director Gladys Echano. Also present was Lorens Ziller, executive director of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines.
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