5 education firms cited for high governance standards

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MANILA — Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo on Sunday has commended five Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE)–listed school operators for their high governance standards.

Credited by Romulo for superior corporate governance practices were Far Eastern University Inc. (FEU), STI Education Systems Holdings Inc. (STI), Centro Escolar University (CEU), Phinma Corp., and iPeople Inc.

“These five entities have been living up to tougher corporate governance principles and guidelines compared to other private education firms not listed on the PSE,” Romulo pointed out.

“We are encouraging other private, non-sectarian school operators to offer their shares of stock to the public and list on the PSE, so that they may also enjoy access to fresh capital that would enable them to improve and expand their services,” Romulo, chairman of the House committee on higher and technical education said.

PSE-listed corporations are able to raise funds by selling new shares of stock or bonds to many potential investors.

The public may buy and sell the shares of the stock of listed entities through the PSE.

Both STI and FEU have been rated among the top 50 PSE-listed firms in the Philippines, based on the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard of the Asian Development Bank and the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum.

With over 80,000 students, STI runs 80 colleges and educational centers nationwide.

STI also operates iACADEMY, which has a Makati City campus specializing in animation, multimedia and graphic arts courses.

It also runs De Los Santos–STI, a health science and nursing school in Quezon City, and West Negros University in Bacolod City.

STI also has equity stake in Philippine Women’s University, which in turn controls the Makati Medical Center College as well as the Jose Abad Santos Memorial School–branded basic education schools.

With more than 28,000 students, FEU has campuses in Manila, Quezon City, Makati and in Silang, Cavite.

Founded in 1928, FEU has institutes of Arts and Sciences; Accounting, Business and Finance; Tourism and Hotel Management; Education; Architecture and Fine Arts; Engineering; Computer Studies; Law; Medicine; and Nursing.

With over 20,000 students, iPeople operates the Mapua Institute of Technology, which in turn runs the Malayan Colleges Laguna in Cabuyao City and the Malayan Science High School in Manila.

CEU has more than 25,000 students in three campuses in Manila, Makati and in Malolos, Bulacan.

Established in 1907, CEU specializes in Dentistry, Medical Technology, Nursing, Optometry, Nutrition and Pharmacy.

Phinma’s Education Network — the Pamantasan ng Araullo, University of Pangasinan, University of Iloilo, and the Cagayan de Oro College — has more than 37,000 students.

Phinma also has investments in power generation, property development, manufacturing, and business process outsourcing.

Only 263 corporations are listed on the PSE, and they are all subject to intense regulatory scrutiny.

They also have to meet rigorous reporting requirements set out by the PSE and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the full public disclosure of material information and transactions, financial statements and annual reports discussing the state of the company.