PWU takeover resumes, says STI

Tanco-led education group STI Holdings is set to resume asset foreclosure proceedings against Philippine Women’s University (PWU) following the dismissal of a petition for corporate rehabilitation filed by the latter’s chair, Helen Benitez.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, STI said the foreclosure was a result of PWU and Unlad Resources Development Corp.’s unpaid loan obligations to the company in the amount of P926.15 million as of December 2014.

Unlad was established as a real estate company for the purpose of owning and holding the assets used by PWU.

A Manila court has junked the petition for involuntary rehabilitation of PWU filed by the Benitez matriarch, citing “materially false” and “misleading” representation alongside findings that the school had been insolvent long before creditor STI Holdings came into the picture.

STI told the local bourse that another order dated Aug. 19 issued by the rehabilitation court also denied a motion to include Unlad as a party to the case.

In its order, the rehabilitation court said it materially considered the rehabilitation receiver’s report which provided, among others, that PWU’s insolvency was due to debts not incurred in the ordinary course of business. The report stated PWU had entered into transactions outside its nature as an educational institution.

STI said the ruling boosted its position that the Benitez petition was a “sham filing intended to delay the enforcement of the rights of creditors.” Doris Dumlao-Abadilla