AS IT holds its groundbreaking ceremony Friday, April 20, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) is seen to further boost the education sector of General Santos City.
"We welcome the entry of UST as it establish its first campus outside of Metro Manila. It will develop our educational facilties in the city," General Santos City Mayor Ronnel C. Rivera said in an interview with SunStar Davao Thursday, at the Waterfront Insular Hotel, in Davao City.
Rivera said with the presence of the university, it will allow the city to further boost its position as one of the education hubs in Southern Mindanao.
UST Gensan is seen to cater students from Soccsksargen and Mindanao island, but also hopefully, those coming from the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga), he added.
"Once the students are here more businesses will also come in, which meas more economic activities. We are optimistic that there will be growth in General Santos City with UST," he said.
The university will be holding the groundbreaking for its first ever campus outside Manila since its founding in 1611 today, April 20, 2018, at Purok 3, Barangay Ligaya, General Santos City.
This was announced in a letter from Associate Prof. Giovanna Fontanilla, the Director of the UST Office of Public Affairs.
Recognized as the oldest existing university in Asia, it is also the largest Catholic university in the world in a single campus.