STI files new foreclosure suit

BUSINESSMAN Eusebio Tanco-led STI Education Systems Holdings Inc. has moved to foreclose on one of the most valuable property assets of beleaguered Philippine Women’s University—the one-hectare campus of Jose Abad Santos Memorial School (JASMS) along Edsa in Quezon City.

Amid an ongoing dispute with the Benitez family over a soured partnership in PWU, STI told the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday that it had filed petitions at the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City seeking the extra-judicial foreclosure of real estate mortgage registered under the name of Unlad Resources Development Corp., the corporate arm of the Benitez family and PWU’s affiliate company that was supposed to absorb these property assets.

The parcels of land were registered under the name of Unlad and were mortgaged in favor of STI Holdings and Attenborough Holdings Corp. (AHC) as security under an agreement dated June 8, 2012, executed among Unlad as debtor and STI Holdings and AHC as creditors.

The JASMS property that STI now seeks to foreclose is located behind another one-hectare property that used to be part of the campus but which Tanco now owns. This other parcel of land, which has a frontage on Edsa, was lost years ago to Jardine Land and afterwards bought by Tanco.

Prior to the latest foreclosure move against the JASMS property, STI took full control of AHC by buying out the shares of businessman-turned-politician Alfredo “Albee” Benitez, STI’s sole ally among the Benitez family and was the one who convinced Tanco to invest in PWU in 2012.

From STI’s point of view, the foreclosure proceedings were meant to protect its shareholders amid PWU’s failure to pay what STI claimed were almost P1 billion in accumulated loans, interest and expenses following a 2012 partnership deal that went awry. The Benitez family, on the other hand, is contesting the computation of interest on the principal debt and has offered to settle for an amount much less than that demanded by Tanco.

The Benitez family assailed the latest move of STI. In a press statement yesterday, PWU media director Lydia Benitez-Brown said STI’s foreclosure petition issue was based on the “erroneous assumption” that PWU was in default of its obligations to the Tanco camp.

“The question of default is now before the courts. It is a legal matter that will be dealt with in court. This move to start foreclosure proceedings against JASMS Quezon City is just pure harassment,” Brown said.