The University’s intention to sell a portion of its farmlands has finally come to fruition, after many years of prayer and seeking God’s guidance.
Because the Technical Committee on Medical Education of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED-TCME) has given the University only 10 years to establish a training hospital, the University decided to sell some of its farmlands to finance its construction.
Upon consultations with the General Conference and the Southern Asia Pacific Division (SSD), the suggestions were that a section of the property should be sold, and the remainder should be on a long-term lease. The plan was for the farmland sale proceeds to be used fund the hospital’s initial construction as well as purchase a property for a satellite campus, with the remaining funds from the long-term lease to be utilized to complete the hospital in the following years. The AUP Board endorsed this plan, which was then approved at the December 2017 Constituency Meeting.
A special advisory committee for property development was then created by the Board including experts on land development and sales, and finance personnel from the General Conference to handle such consequential matters. As per the recommendation of the advisory committee, the University hired three appraisal firms to evaluate the true market worth of the land, thus ensuring its profitability. The University has exhausted all safeguards to ensure that the transaction complies with denominational policy and be profitably favorable to the University.
On January 2020, the University Constituency met and approved to offer 24.2 hectares of idle farmland for sale. After negotiations with Alveo Land Corp, the University Board voted to approve the terms of sale on September 13, 2021. As per denominational policy, the terms offered by Alveo was also approved by the SSD Executive Committee. Also, as part of its compliance, consent was granted by the North Philippine Union Conference (NPUC) Executive Committee on October 28, 2021, and likewise approved by the NPUC Corporation Board on the same date.
The proceeds of the sale will primarily be used to fund the construction of a 100-bed University Medical Center and the purchase of a satellite campus as a replacement for the sold land. The University wishes to express its gratitude to the Lord and all its constituents for their prayers and support.