Megaworld Hotels & Resorts (MHR), the Philippines’ largest hotel operator, has officially introduced its first-ever Sampaguita Park, located within Southwoods City in Biñan, Laguna. The park, spanning 4,300 square meters of green space, is being developed in partnership with Global-Estate Resorts, Inc. (GERI) and the Rotary Club of Biñan, Laguna, with a target completion date by Q2 2026.
“With the creation of the Sampaguita Park, we don’t just celebrate Filipino culture, but also bring opportunities to the people who will nurture and enjoy it. This is our small contribution to preserving the beauty and meaning of our national flower while working alongside our partners and the community to create a space that inspires, educates, and sustains. We are honored to be part of something that may hopefully bloom beyond this one park and into many other places where our heritage lives,” said Cleofe Albiso, Managing Director of Megaworld Hotels & Resorts. “Throughout the years of embracing the Sampaguita as the representation of our hospitality brand, we’ve been able to not just fulfill our promise to make it available through the five senses when our guests are inside our hotels. We’ve brought out our advocacy. We have brought out to our industry in the tourism and hospitality industry. Our love to always put forward, getting our feet on the ground, reminding everyone of our roots, our history, and our origin, is going to be very critical for us to move forward solidly as a Megaworld Hotels & Resorts Team,” Albiso added.
MHR’s Sampaguita journey began in July 2023 as part of Megaworld Hotels & Resorts’ tangible efforts to promote Filipinization in the hospitality industry. At the time, the goal was to adopt the national flower and create a multi-sensory signature that welcomes guests with the scent, sounds, flavors, and stories of the Sampaguita.
“As we study and learn about Sampaguita and deepen our research about the national flower, we discovered something–a reality that is very alarming. That Sampaguita, once a thriving industry, is now a dying one. So with that reality, we felt a deeper responsibility–we, at Megaworld Hotels & Resorts. What we started as a symbol of our brand of service turned into an advocacy to raise awareness and revive the Sampaguita industry in ways that are meaningful and sustainable,” said Eden Decano, Megaworld Hotels & Resorts’ Director of Finance and Sustainability Lead.
By late 2023, MHR had planted 2,500 seedlings across four Megaworld townships and its Central Nursery in Ternate, Cavite. Today, more than 18,000 liters of our Cool Sampaguita scent have been used across MHR’s 13 properties, and over 30,000 grams of food-grade buds have been used in the curated Sampaguita menu. Through the group’s collaboration with Dwellbeing, more than 8,200 families have received meals through its extended partnership with Project PEARLS.
“The heart of the project, which is to really celebrate Filipino culture and to celebrate our Filipino identity through Sampaguita. This is our way of preserving it. What we want to achieve here is, apart from the awareness, it’s really to be able to provide to the communities that rely on the Sampaguita. This is just a first,” said Charlene Go-Co, Head of Marketing Innovations at MHR.
The Sampaguita Park marks a significant step in heritage preservation and community engagement and underscores MHR’s role in nation-building through meaningful private-public partnerships. With the support of its partners, government agencies, and guests, MHR hopes the Sampaguita Park will become a model project for replication in other communities.
“It’s approximately 4,300 square meters. It’s dedicated based on the master plan of Southwoods City–it’s intended for an open space or green space area,” said Dante Cerrer, Regional Township Director for Estate Management at GERI.
To mark the introduction of the park, Megaworld Hotels & Resorts hosted an intimate media gathering on July 31, 2025, at the Savoy Hotel Manila. The event was attended by key figures from MHR and its partners, including Cleofe Albiso, Managing Director of MHR; Ederlinda Decano, Group Director of Finance and MHR’s Sustainability Lead; Charlene Go-Co, Head of Marketing Innovations at MHR; Dante Cerrer, Regional Township Director for Estate Management at GERI; and Serge Igonia, representing both the San Pedro Laguna community and the Rotary Club of Biñan.
The park is a tribute to the Sampaguita, the Philippines’ national flower, and the values it represents: love, honor, dignity, and healing. Almost 3,000 sampaguita seedlings garnered from the hotel group’s “Petal to Purpose” Earth Hour campaign last March will be used in the upcoming sowing activity and will be nurtured by the local community of San Pedro, Laguna.
The Sampaguita Park serves as a cultural destination, reinforcing the Philippines’ push as a tourist destination. The park also provides sustainable livelihood opportunities for local farmers through the support of the Rotary Club of Biñan, Laguna. The local farmers will be assigned to maintain the park and create products from the harvested blooms.
“It will help a lot to boost their economy by providing them with a livelihood project. They will be there from the start, when they plant the sampaguita, until it progresses. There will be a lot of opportunities for them,” said Serge Igonia, representing both the San Pedro Laguna community and the Rotary Club of Biñan President, Edith Almendrala.