Villar named among ‘Heroes of Philanthropy’

Manuel Villar

Real estate mogul and billionaire Manuel Villar was recognized as the sole Filipino on Forbes Asia’s 2024 Heroes of Philanthropy List for making “significant contributions” to a “cherished cause” this year, particularly the Catholic Church.

Villar, chair of developer Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., joins 14 other business leaders across Asia in the list’s 18th iteration. They were chosen “for their philanthropic efforts in the past year, making significant donations from their own fortunes.”

Forbes Magazine cited Villar’s P615-million donation in October to build a church and school beside Provence, a Vista Land flagship development in Bulacan province.

The tycoon gifted 1.2 hectares of land worth P613 million to the Diocese of Malolos and donated another P2 million in cash.

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According to Vista Land, the land within Provence will be the site of the La Sainte Famille Church, while the school will be managed by administrators of the Immaculate School of Malolos.

The 350-hectare Provence project will be a master planned community under Vista Estates, and it is set to house residential, commercial and leisure facilities.

Villar’s donated land will be reserved for Avignon, the second of Provence’s three zones, Vista Land earlier said.

The former senator also previously donated more than 2 hectares of land to St. Jude College in Manila and another 5 hectares to the University of the Philippines, Diliman in Quezon City. Combined, Forbes said these were worth around P8 billion.

Villar, also one of the Philippines’ wealthiest individuals in terms of net worth, said in a statement to Forbes: “It has always been my belief that communities flourish when faith and education are at [their] center.” INQ