UST unveils Gen. Santos City campus

(Photo courtesy of CBCP)

MANILA, Philippines — The University of Santo Tomas (UST) recently inaugurated its General Santos City campus in Mindanao.

In a statement released by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), UST Manila journalism program head Felipe Salvosa II said the 82-hectare campus is located in Barangay Ligaya, General Santos City.

It is set to open in Academic Year 2024 to 2025 as a branch campus, with an initial enrollment of 500 students in the health sciences, business and accountancy, engineering, and information technology courses.

Its seven-story main building can accommodate 5,000 students and is also patterned after the nearly century-old UST Main Building in Manila.

The new building has 24 classrooms, 23 laboratories, a chapel, library, clinic, auditorium, cafeteria, organization rooms, and function halls.

According to UST Rector Fr. Richard Ang, the new campus UST’s bid to “make General Santos City an educational center in the region.”

He also told a gathering of alumni at the eve of the inauguration that “UST is not a threat, but a treat,” and vowed to collaborate with other higher education institutions in the city.

UST – General Santos City is also set to break ground on another major campus structure on April 25 — the Dr. Ricardo S. Po, Sr. Integrated Innovation and Research Laboratories, named after the Century Pacific Food Inc. founder and UST alumnus.