Good news greets CIC in August as A.M. Best Co. gave it a slightly higher Financial Stability Rating (FSR) and Issuer Credit Rating (ICR) before the end of July. Accordingly, CIC Guam’s FSR went up to B++ from the previous B+ rating that it received from A.M. Best Co. last year. Meanwhile, its ICR has also improved to bbb from its previous rate of bbb-. “The ratings for CIC Guam recognize the significant improvement in the company’s Best Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR) stemming from the capital infusion from its immediate holding entity, Tan Holdings Corporation (THC). To support the business growth of CIC Guam, Tan Holdings infused fresh capital in June 2010, which doubled the company’s paid-up capital and subsequently significantly improved the company’s risk-based capitalization. ” –A.M. Best Co. Simultaneously, the ratings company also graded CIC Saipan with a B+ FSR and an ICR of bbb-. These ratings attest to the stability of both CIC outlets in Guam and Saipan. Citing the results of its own report, the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating group also acknowledged that the outcome of the ratings are in conjunction with the “prudent investment strategy and efforts by management to enhance both companies’ enterprise risk management.”

On July 16, POI Aviation celebrated its 20^th anniversary.  The celebration was held at the Seaside Hall of the Saipan Grand Hotel.

The much-awaited celebration of the company’s 20^th year in the ground handling industry was attended by the members of the POI Aviation team as well as the management team of POI Aviation and Tan Holdings.

Among the highlights of the gathering was the announcement of the service awardees for 20 years, presented by Tan Holdings Senior VP Eli Arago and VP for Logistics and Business Development Ivan Quichocho.

Congratulations to POI Aviation!

Expecting a night of excitement and fun, a zealous crowd comprised of 500 participants gathered at the American Memorial Park on July 8 for a free-admissions movie screening of the film “Despicable Me”.

This recently-held “movie in the park” experience, the first time on the island, was made possible through the collaboration of the United Services Organization (USO) and the Tan Siu Lin Foundation.

USO is a private, nonprofit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military, with programs in 140 centers worldwide.

Lt. Gov Eloy Inos and his grandchildren, Tan Holdings President Jerry Tan, USO Director Leigh Graham and USO Center Operations Manager Vic Tano were all in attendance during the event to make some short remarks to the crowd.

Volunteers from Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan and Century Hotel joined hands in preserving the cleanliness of the shores of the Makaka Beach on June 25 as they held another beach cleanup.

There were reportedly 60 volunteers who joined the cleanup activity.  The collected bags of trash totaled 34.

Complete with a slide, a see-saw, a swing set and a set of monkey bar, Tan Holdings proudly unveiled the children’s playground that it has provided for the community members of Susupe in Saipan through a ribbon-cutting ceremony held on June 24.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was led by Tan Holdings President Jerry Tan himself.  For this event, Tan was joined by other Tan Holdings executives as well as some esteemed government officials.

Prior to the ceremony, the executives helped prepare for the official opening of the playground by conducting a general cleanup and paint job in the area.

On their part, the government officials expressed their gratitude and appreciation for the efforts of Tan Holdings.

In response, Tan said that, “we at Tan Holdings have a long-term commitment to helping the Division of Parks and Recreation in the upkeep of the Susupe Regional Beach Park so that the community can continue to enjoy it.”

Two team members of the Fiesta Resort Guam were among several industry employees recognized by the Guam Visitors Bureau for Excellence in Tourism.

Perla Chua, Accounting Analyst, received the HERO [Hospitality Employees aRe Outstanding] Award, and Yoshiki Jimmy Sato, Guest Relations Agent, received the Rookie of the Year Award.

Both awards honor employees that demonstrate consistent exemplary performance in the course of the job and exhibits pride in rendering service.

The Guam Visitors Bureau Excellence in Tourism Awards were presented on May 27, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Guam.

On June 11, Saturday, Tan Holdings President Jerry Tan led the opening ceremony of the Tan Siu Lin Sports Complex.

Boasting of a good sports activities’ site that has a basketball court, a badminton court and a futsal court, Tan said that this new facility was built as a response to the constant postponement of games due to bad weather.

Joining Tan at the ceremony were his twin brother Raymond Tan, their father Chairman Tan Siu Lin, NMASA President Michael White, Barrigada Mayor Jessie B. Palican, Saipan Mayor Donald Flores and Rep. Edmund Villagomez.

The Tan Siu Lin Sports Complex is located in Middle Road, Saipan.

Team members of Tan Holdings and its affiliates were one with the rest of the companies, organizations and individuals in Guam who gathered at the George Washington High School Field on May 27 to make the Relay for Life 2011 a successful event.

Relay for Life is an annual event which aims to raise funds for the American Cancer Society.  This event is supported by the Guam community in its quest to support cancer patients, raise awareness against the disease and to look back and reminisce about loved ones who died because of cancer.

According to reports, 75 teams were formed for this year’s Relay for Life event.  Meanwhile, the chosen theme for this year is “carnival of colors”.

Sponsored annually by the Saipan Chamber of Commerce (SCC), this year’s Corporate Challenge was held on May 29 at the Minachom Atdao.

Fiesta Resort joined the fundraising activity by engaging in a friendly competition with the other teams, namely:  Coca Cola/Glimpses Saipan, DFS Saipan Limited, Docomo Pacific Saipan, TakeCare/FHP, First Hawaiian Bank, G4S Security Services, IT&E, Marianas Pacific Distributors, Inc., Marianas Cable Vision, Microl Corporation, Pacific Islands Club, Delta Management Corporation and Triple J Corporation.

With the support of the event’s 14 participating companies, SCC is proud to report that they were able to raise $4,200 for educational endeavors.

The proceeds of the event will be directed to the SCC’s scholarship program for the youth.

The Annual Marianas March Against Cancer was held on May 13 at the Hopwood Junior High School Field and Tan Holdings was among its most ardent supporters.

For this year, the company worked hand-in-hand with the Kagman High School in creating a booth with the theme, “”a shop”.

The idea behind the booth was for people to donate their own hair and to have it styled in a “Salon” at the Fiesta Resort and Spa Saipan.

Initiated by the Commonwealth Cancer association (CCA), the MMAC is the largest cancer program in the CNMI.  Its purpose is to raise funds for cancer patients while raising awareness in fighting the disease as well.

Tan Holdings heeded the call for support sent by the Department of Environment Quality (DEQ) to the public and private sector on Saipan to successfully implement several activities lined up by the department last April.

The Environmental Expo is one of the activities last month which was declared by Governor Fitial as the CNMI Environmental Awareness Month.

Tan Holdings joined several other companies on Saipan in participating at the 3-day Environmental Exposition. Carrying the over-all theme “Invest in the Real Green: Our Environment”, Tan Holdings’ participation showed they are committed to improve,protect and conserve the environment as true environmental stewards do. From April 12-14, they showcased their Going Greeninitiatives such as the Adopt-A-Pavilion, Adopt-A-Bin and the Susupe Rehabilitation project.

As part of Asia Pacific Hotels Inc.’s volunteer efforts on their adopted projects,Saipan Grand Hotel continues to take a lead role on their dedicated monthly clean up at Mt. Tapochau.

The clean up was conducted by its managers and several of their team members who have volunteered their time and effort in the early morning hours of Saturday, April 30, 2011.

Part of the clean up was picking up the trash after the Easter Mass that was held a week earlier and by cutting the grass to spruce up and beautify the area. There will be a monthly clean up to ensure that the highest peak in Saipan will continue to be a favorite place by both foreign guests and locals.

Volunteers from Tan Holdings and its affiliates joined the Division of Environmental Quality DEQ’s Plant-a-Tree event on April 29.

The Plant-a-Tree project is part of DEQ’s activities for the 2011 Environmental Awareness Month.

The group focused on tree planting activities at the Kilili Beach while other volunteers from the community planted trees at the PauPau beach, Tanapag Beach, Lali 4 and Pagpag Beach.

As part of this year’s environmental awareness month, the CNMI Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) launched a series of events that are all directed at preserving the natural beauty of the environment. Supporting these initiatives are the team members of Tan Holdings and its affiliates, who joined DEQ’s Islandwide Cleanup on April 15 and 16.

In summary, CTSI Logistics fielded 30 volunteers, Saipan Grand Hotel has 20 volunteers, Century Tours with 8 volunteers, D&Q with 9, Fiesta Resort and Century Insurance with 51 volunteers and CIC, L&T and Saipan Tribune with 32 volunteers and POI Aviation with 30 volunteers. The Tan Holdings group gathered 236 bags of trash or 5,220 lbs of garbage.

In celebration of the first anniversary of the Tan Holdings Adopt-a-Pavilion initiative, several individuals assembled for a cleanup drive in front of JP Center all the way to the 13th Fishermen’s Memorial.

The cleanup drive, held on March 26, was a gathering of volunteers from the L&T Group of Companies, Century Insurance, and Saipan Tribune.

A total of 30 volunteers showed up for the activity and collected 34 bags of trash

In support of the Tan Holdings Voluntary Donation Drive to help the victims of the Japan Earthquake/Tsunami disaster, Fiesta Guam team members donated a record $3200 to help the Japanese.

To date, this is the largest sum that Fiesta Guam team members have donated for a single cause.

The donation was presented to the American Red Cross – Guam Chapter and will be directed to ARC’sr humanitarian efforts in Japan.

Members of the Saipan Unity Lions Club came together on March 25 for the hot lunch fund drive, a fund raising activity intended for the victims of the Japanese Twin Disaster.

The fund drive was initiated by the active members of the Saipan Unity Lions Club.  Among these are also from Tan Holdings:  the Saipan Unity Lion’s Club’s President, Ladyvir Canape of Cosmos; its treasurer, Noemi Catigan of Asia Pacific Hotel, Inc; its 1-year director Agripino Buensalido of CTSI and its 2-year director, Guillermo T. Canape, Jr. of POI Aviation.

Through the fund drive, the club was able to turn over $500 to the Japanese Society of the NMI.

Tan Holdings President Jerry Tan expressed support to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that recently hit Japan by donating $10,000 to the American Red Cross NMI Chapter.

The donations were presented to Red Cross Executive Director John Hirsh, Board Members Jocelyn Deleon Guerrero, Jerry Facey, and Lou Johnson.

Alongside this, the company also gave donations worth $15,000 to the Guam Chapter of the American Red Cross.

During the presentation of the donation at the TSL Plaza, Tan reiterated the need for the CNMI community to extend their generosity to Japan because of the calamities that struck the country.

Rather than sleep in on a chilly, early Saturday morning, hundreds of family members, close friends, and former colleagues of the late Tan Holdings Corp. executive John “JP” Pangelinan gathered last Feb. 26 for the 3rd Annual “A Walk to Remember.”

The annual walk pays tribute to the former Saipan Tribune publisher who passed away in 2008 after a long battle with cancer.

Most of the 554 participants arrived before sunup to take part in the walk, which began from the JP Center in Garapan all the way to Susupe Beach Park. Water stations were set up for participants throughout the course, with refreshments, entertainment, and shuttle transportation made available at the end of the walk.

This year, various organizations including the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association, TanHoldings Football Club, Shirley’s Football Club, United Knights Badminton Club, and the Northern Mariana Islands Badminton Association took part in the event.

Among those who took part in Saturday’s walk included JP’s siblings Herman Pangelinan, Sophia Tenorio, and Martina Ada, who is former Saipan Mayor Gilbert Ada’s wife; JP’s daughter Christina Sablan; nephews and nieces; Tan Holdings president Jerry Tan; Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos; and Mayor Donald Flores with wife Chilang Flores.

“This is the third year that my brother’s friends and family have come out to walk in his memory. It touches my heart to see that there are still so many people that love and miss him. Thank you to Tan Holdings, the volunteers, and especially Jerry Tan whom my brother loved like a son,” JP’s sister Sophia Tenorio told Saipan Tribune.

Niece Ruth Sablan quipped that her uncle would be laughing at her since it was such a chore for her to even walk to the store to get him a drink. “Now I walk three miles each year to show how much I love him and miss him,” she said as she thanked everyone who supported the event.

Jenny Pangelinan, JP’s daughter who’s based in California, thanked everyone who organized and walked for her father. “It moves all of his children when we see and feel the love. My brothers and sisters miss him dearly and we can’t express how much all of your efforts mean to us,” she added.

Tan Holdings president Jerry Tan, a close friend of the Pangelinan family, said JP will always be remembered in their hearts. “I’m sure he was happy that so many of his loved ones, old friends, and new faces showed up to walk in his memory. We really miss him and know that he’s smiling down on us all the time.”

Participants in last Saturday’s walk were also asked to donate $5 each as the event also served as a fundraising activity. A total of $2,142.50 was raised, to be donated to the Marianas March Against Cancer.

On February 16, Tan Siu Lin Foundation President Jerry Tan met with Senator Paul Manglona, Senator Juan Ayuyu, and Senator Luis Crisostomo at the TSL Plaza. The Foundation donated $500 worth of juices and cookies to the 2011 San Isidro Fiesta in Rota.