The City Government of Manila has acquired eight adjoining properties along C.M. Recto Avenue from the Land Bank of the Philippines for ₱975 million, securing a permanent home for Universidad de Manila in the heart of the University Belt.
Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso announced the acquisition during the ceremonial signing of the Contract to Sell at the Bulwagang Katipunan, Manila City Hall, noting that the property was originally valued at ₱2.3 billion before the city negotiated it down through financial engineering.
“Ito pong property na ito ay nagkakahalagang tumataginting na 2.3 billion pesos. Kaya ko kayo pinapapalakpakan sa kanila eh, kasi nakuha lang natin ng 975 million pesos.”
“Ito pong property na ito ay nagkakahalagang tumataginting na 2.3 billion pesos. Kaya ko kayo pinapapalakpakan sa kanila eh, kasi nakuha lang natin ng 975 million pesos,” Domagoso said.
The transaction is structured as an installment arrangement, with even the down payment paid in tranches, a flexibility the mayor attributed to Landbank’s confidence in the city’s improving fiscal discipline and commitment to public purpose.
The new campus, sitting on 7,000 square meters with frontages along Recto and Bilibid Viejo, will expand UdM from 48 to 84 classrooms and add 8 new laboratory facilities, with student capacity growing from 9,000 to 20,000.
Domagoso acknowledged that UdM had long been operating in a scattered setup across multiple sites, and said the acquisition finally addresses that long-standing gap.
“Doon nagkasabi, naghahanap kami ng lugar na matuldukan na at magkaroon na ng pag-aari o pagmamay-ari ang UDM. Kasi ang UDM po ay sabog-sabog eh, disintegrated,” he said.
Land Bank of the Philippines President and CEO Lynette Ortiz said Landbank is committed to supporting the city beyond the sale, including extending capital to help refurbish the properties and wiring the campus under its Cash-Lite Campus digital financial inclusion program.
“We are prepared to extend capital and support to make sure that this dream becomes a reality sooner rather than later,” Ortiz said.
“We are prepared to extend capital and support to make sure that this dream becomes a reality sooner rather than later.”
Upon completion of payments, the title to the property will be transferred to Universidad de Manila as an institution, giving the university permanent ownership of its campus independent of future city administrations.
The city is targeting full operations at the new UdM campus by 2028.
