New UST campus

The recent groundbreaking for the new University of Sto. Tomas (UST) campus, to be located a stone throw’s away from Brittany Corp.’s exclusive Georgia Club community in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, underscores the economic growth and importance of the metro south. The groundbreaking for the 45-hectare campus was attended by business taipan Lucio Tan, a member of the UST Board, as well as other business and government leaders.

The soon-to-rise campus represents a major investment and addition to the educational community in the region, with a teaching hospital and facilities that will offer degree programs in health care and other university degree programs to produce graduates who will be able to find good employment in the region, now one of the country’s brightest economic growth areas.

The line-up of quality academic institutions in Laguna which UST will join includes De La Salle University - Canlubang, St. Scholastica’s College, Don Bosco and the Ateneo Graduate School, as well as Acacia School which offers pre-school education.

Laguna is the first province south of the metro, easily reached from Metro Manila and home to 17 industrial estates that account for a large share of the country’s exports. In fiscal year 2004, Laguna led all local government units nationwide in gross income, with more than P1.3 billion. Its municipalities of Biñan and Cabuyao ranked second and third nationwide with gross incomes of P500 million and P443 million, respectively, in the municipality category. For its part, the municipality of Sta. Rosa, one of the country’s fastest-growing investment sites, is an ideal place of residence for professionals and their families. Dubbed the "Silicon Valley" of the Philippines, and the IT hub of the South because of the electronics and semi-conductor firms in the area, Sta. Rosa is also known as the country’s "Little Detroit, " being the home of major car manufacturers and assemblers.

Laguna is endowed with an advantageous natural topography and environment that includes plentiful underground water reserves pegged at 300 million gallons, and a host of leisure and vacation destinations.

Brittany CEO Jing Serrano said the location of the UST campus adjacent to Georgia Club is part of the master-planning for the upscale community. "We have picked locations in the south, such as Sta. Rosa, for key reasons."