Greenergy Holdings Inc., the listed holding firm of businessman Antonio Tiu, is optimistic after the Australian government's recent landmark decision allowing over the counter sale of CBD or cannabidiol oil.
This bodes well for Greenergy which last year acquired a 50 percent stake in the Yakuru Group of Australia, a company engaged in the medical cannabis business, Tiu said.
CBD oil is derived from cannabis or marijuana and is used for medicinal purposes.
Tiu said Greenergy wants to be the first to bring in CBD oil to the Philippine market as soon as Congress approves a measure allowing the use of medicinal marijuana in the country.
"I invested in this project because I believe in its medicinal value. We are not into recreational marijuana, only for medicinal purposes," Tiu said.
At present, the House of Representatives and the Senate are both pushing for the measure which also has the support of prominent personalities in the country including former president and House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
"We want to be the first mover (of medical marijuana) in the Philippines," said Tiu, who is also an advocate of eastern medicine, environment sustainability and green technology.
As soon as the Philippines allows the use of CBD oil, Tiu said Greenergy and the Yakuru Group are ready to bring this to the local market.
The Philippine Cannabis Compassion Society is strongly pushing for the legalization of the use of CBD oil in the Philippines.
The group includes individuals and families dealing with serious illnesses and conditions such as cancer, epilepsy, down syndrome, among others whose effects and symptoms can be managed with the help of CBD oil.
In Australia, the benefits of CBD oil have been widely trumpeted with studies showing that it also has immune boosting properties which can greatly aid individuals and patients especially amidst the COVID-19 global health pandemic.
According to a recent article on RT.com, "researchers in Austria’s Klagenfurt Clinic are reporting promising results from CBD trials on COVID-19 ICU patients that show reduced inflammation and quicker recovery times."
"We have seen that the inflammation parameters in the blood go down and people leave the hospital faster than the comparison group. CBD supports the immune system," said Rudolf Likar, head of intensive care medicine at the clinic.
In all, Greenergy continues to evolve with a wide array of businesses being considered for acquisition and investments such as in the Yakuru Group, food and agriculture, banking and finance, real estate development and construction, renewable energy, technology, information technology and retail. This is consistent with Tiu's vision of creating an ecosystem of businesses that would maximize opportunities for growth, enhance shareholder value and more importantly, help meet the needs of Filipino consumers especially in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.