BACOLOD CITY — On the morning of May 8, 2026, a stretch of land along the Bacolod-Silay Airport Access Road stirred with a particular kind of anticipation. This was not the ceremony of a finished building but the smaller, more intimate ritual of a beginning. PHINMA Properties, in partnership with JEPP Real Estate Co., had gathered guests beneath a tent in Barangay Bata to break ground on Dahlia Tower—the first residential tower of Maayo Terraces, an 11-building mid-rise condominium community rising within the 21-hectare Saludad Township. The event marked the moment when a master-planned vision began its quiet pivot from paper to place.
Raphael B. Felix, President and CEO of both PHINMA Properties and JEPP Property Corporation, addressed the crowd with words that carried the weight of years of planning. "Today is meaningful because it's not just about what Saludad can become. It's about what is already happening," Felix said. Then, slipping into Hiligaynon, he added the phrase that would define the morning: "Ari na ang Maayo Terraces, nagasugod na." Here it is; it has begun.
A Township That Refuses to Be a Promise
Saludad is PHINMA Properties' first township development, a PHP12-billion master-planned community co-created with Bacolod-based JEPP Real Estate Co. and designed by Royal Pineda+ Architecture·Design. It integrates residential, commercial, hospitality, educational, and open spaces within a single urban footprint. Earlier in March, PHINMA Hospitality broke ground on TRYP by Wyndham Bacolod, the township's flagship hotel. Southwestern University PHINMA will open its first campus outside Cebu City within the same estate.
The Dahlia Tower groundbreaking follows these milestones and completes the township's foundational triad: a place to stay, a place to learn, and now, a place to live. Maayo Terraces—"maayo" meaning "good" in Hiligaynon—is designed as an 11-building mid-rise community offering 2,922 units. With approximately 60 percent open space, it prioritizes greenery, community areas, and what Felix described as "a different kind of condominium living for Bacolod"—one supported by the utilities and infrastructure of an integrated township rather than a standalone tower.
A Family's Land, A City's Next Chapter
For JEPP Real Estate Co., represented at the ceremony by President and JEPP Property Corp. Director Pia Dabao, the groundbreaking carried a deeper, more personal resonance. The land on which Dahlia Tower will rise was shaped by generations of a single family's memories and stewardship. "Not just vertical living," Dabao said of Maayo Terraces, "but living designed for real day-to-day life, with open spaces, comfort, and a stronger sense of community." The family's decision to open the property to a master-planned township reflects a deliberate choice: to welcome more Bacolodnons into a community designed for how the city actually lives and grows.
Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya, in a message delivered by Secretary to the Mayor Atty. Marty Go, described the groundbreaking as "a vote of confidence in Bacolod's future." The city government reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining an investor-friendly environment, noting that Bacolod North is emerging as a growth corridor shaped by infrastructure, connectivity, and the city's natural direction of expansion. "When the private sector succeeds, Bacolod succeeds," the mayor added.
Progress People Can See
What distinguishes the Dahlia Tower groundbreaking from other ceremonies in the region is Felix's insistence that Saludad is not a promise for someday but progress people can see. PHINMA Corporation has set aside P6.3 billion for capital expenditures this year, with Saludad among the priority projects. The township's southern Phase 1 is targeted for completion within 2026, while the northern Phase 2 is scheduled for 2028. With TRYP by Wyndham under construction, SWU PHINMA's campus in the pipeline, and residential units now beginning their vertical climb, the township is assembling its components in real time.
The name "Dahlia"—a flower known for its layered petals and enduring bloom—offers a quiet metaphor for what PHINMA and JEPP intend to cultivate in Barangay Bata. This is not a single-use development but a layered community designed to unfold over years, each component reinforcing the others. What was once a vision on paper is steadily becoming a real and active address. And on that May morning, as shovels turned soil under the Bacolod sun, the first tower of Maayo Terraces began its ascent, carrying with it the weight of a family's legacy, a developer's conviction, and a city's northward gaze.
