PWU eyes partnership with Ayala

Philippine Women’s University / Wikipedia

MANILA — Ayala Land Inc. was recently invited to be a potential partner for the redevelopment of the Quezon City campus of Philippine Women University’s basic education arm Jose Abad Santos Memorial School (JASMS).

Ayala Land is the same developer tapped by STI Holdings to team up for the development of the campus.

The property is now facing foreclosure proceedings following the aborted partnership deal with creditor and investor STI Holdings.

“With the new central business district being built by Ayala Land Inc. and the large malls already operating opposite the campus, I suggest that the best use of the property would be one based on serious stakeholder consultations,” Gillian Joyce Virata, officer in charge for administration at JASMS Quezon City, said as quoted in a Philippine Daily Inquirer report.

The statement was made through a letter sent to ALI chair Fernando Zobel de Ayala last Jan. 28, 2015.

The letter also contained the proposed “education commons” “surrounded by complementary venues for community education activities in such areas as discourse, training, culture and the arts, sports, innovation and entrepreneurship.”

The proposal also indicated that the current landowners would have to sell their properties to another party.

The Benitezes and the Tancos currently own half of the 2.2-hectare original JASMS campus.

“I also know that ALI has already signed an agreement to jointly develop the properties. In my ideal scenario, ALI would buy the Tanco property and develop the education commons with PWU,” Virata said.

“It is my hope that interest from a third-party investor in a development such as the education commons with PWU would lead to an amicable settlement. When this happens, we can continue the work to enrich the lives of JASMS families and other stakeholders including the wider community,” she added.