How did I get this far?
It was September 11, 1996 when I discovered this beautiful and very peaceful city in region 10, Northern Mindanao. I was brought here in Cagayan de Oro or CDO City by Philippine Phoenix Surety and Insurance Company to watch over its branch office operation for a planned two year-term. On that very day when I was in that Philippine Airline early morning flight to CDO City, I was amazed by the airport situated on top of the mountain; by the way, the airport was already relocated to Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental, and I will also write about it soon. It was a very cool approach to touch down as I watch over the group of subdivisions by Crown Communities that featured beautiful and elegantly constructed residential houses. Finally after we landed and when I get off the plane, I immediately had this hard to explain feeling inside me. A very strange thought lingered in my mind; ‘I am not here for work alone; this is going to be a complete change on how I am to live my whole life’. I am a city boy; I was born in Naga City, grow-up in Makati City and lived for some time in Muntinlupa City. However, Cagayan de Oro City seemed to be a place where one who comes here would be enchanted and would love to live here for the rest of his life. After two years, Philippine Phoenix recalled me back to Manila. It was then I made the big decision of my life, and that was to settle down here for good. I resigned from the company, and I got hired by Philippine British Assurance Co., Inc. and worked for the said company for seven years until 2006, the year I passed the real estate brokers examination. During the same year, I transferred to a new insurance company, the Intra-Strata Assurance Co., Inc. In 2007, I registered as a licensed real estate broker and started selling houses as secondary source of income, until I decided to quit from being employed and concentrate as a real estate broker in 2008. Last September marked my 19th year living in this “City of Golden Friendship”.