UAAP arena rising in Pasig

MANILA, Philippines — No place like home.

The UAAP will soon have a home of its own following a trailblazing partnership with Akari Lighting Technology and Corp., in building a 6,000-seater arena set to rise in Pasig.

To be called “Home of the UAAP,” the first-of-its-kind permanent arena for any league in the country will begin construction next year after both parties signed the memorandum of agreement on Monday at the UP Diliman in Quezon City.

It’s a perfect kickoff for the UAAP approaching the highly-anticipated opener of Season 87 next month to be hosted by UP.

“The Home of the UAAP is not just for the league itself; it is for the student-athletes who represent the heart and soul of the UAAP. This is their home – a place where they can compete, grow, and thrive,” said UAAP executive director Atty. Rebo Saguisag.

“It will go down in the annals of Philippine sports history. A home we can call our own. There is no place like home,” added Saguisag, joined by Akari CEO Christopher Tiu, UAAP Season 87 chairman and UP president Atty. Angelo Jimenez, UP Diliman chancellor Atty. Edgardo Carlo Vistan and negotiating panel head Fr. Aldrin Suan, CM, of Adamson, in the grand signing to usher a new era for the collegiate league.

The UAAP arena, to sit on a 1.8-hectare real state in Pasig, is a project by Asya Design, one of the country’s top architectural firms, led by chief architect Albert Yu, with a three-year construction timeline.

The arena is already on the final stage of “schematic planning” to be followed by the bidding and construction proper in the next two seasons before being fully operational for games in Season 90.

It features an 8-shape building design to represent all the member schools, which will have their own lighting colors as an outside landscape during games.