On August 31, the Philippine National Council selected 1 Ladislawa, a two-storey office building along Ladislawa Avenue in Buhangin, Davao City, to be the official location of the Philippine National Office for the next two years.

We arrived at this decision using a list of 10 criteria for evaluating office space—proximity to our bank, proximity to key offices and utility companies, accessibility of public transportation, building safety and security, facilities and building management, cost, quality and prestige, distance from the residence of employees, input and feedback from building clients, and lastly but most important—the will of God.

Based on an initial study of the facts and the criteria mentioned above—giving about equal weight to each—the Landco Corporate Center, a 17-storey office building in Pryce Business Park along J.P. Laurel Avenue in Bajada, emerged as number 1. We therefore strongly considered it as a location for the National Office.

However, while we liked Landco, some of us had reservations about the cost. Mr. Baker therefore asked me to continue the search further and consider other options. To reach a consensus, we had to slightly modify our criteria and put greater weight on the cost factor. This led us to consider many other options and locations.

Finally, on August 23, after more than a month of searching, I believe God led us to an office space that is almost perfect for our needs. It is not as classy or as prestigious as Landco, but it is almost half the cost. It is situated in a secure office building within the area of a good and safe neighborhood, the Ladislawa Garden Village in Buhangin. There are trees around, and it has a lot of fresh open air space around it.  It’s not crowded or congested, yet is very accessible by public transportation and not too far from our bank, the Davao International Airport, and other key offices. Some of the tenants are Americans and Europeans. I have talked to them, and basically, they are happy and feel secure with the location. The office space might be a little smaller than what we were initially looking for, but I think we can still manage with 65.48 square meters (700 square feet) for now. The important thing is the work gets done and people’s needs are served.

We were able to acquire a good telephone number for the office: (082) 224-4444. This number is easy to remember, like our Good News cell phone number: 0918-904-4444.

Thank you for all your prayers for the success of our search! We have already signed the contract and the office renovation work should begin anytime soon. God willing, we hope to move into the new office location by November 1 or December 31 at the latest.