KEY members of the Benitez family resigned as members of the board of trustees of Philippine Women’s University (PWU) as they cede control of the school group to STI Holdings Inc.
In a statement, STI said the resignation of the Benitez members took effect on Monday, December 22.
As a result, STI now has eight of the 10 board seats in PWU, a nonstock corporation.
Eusebio Tanco was elected chairman; Monico Jacob, president and CEO; and Maria Vanessa Tanco remains as EVP and COO. Other members are Jaeger Tanco, Yolanda Bautista, Jesli Lapus, Teodoro Locsin and Paolo Martin Bautista.
Dr. Helena Z. Benitez remains as chairman emeritus. The resignation comes after STI claimed the Benitez Group failed to pay STI for loans through a debt-to-equity conversion supposed to have been done in November 2011.
STI bailed out PWU by buying its debt paper from BDO Unibank Inc., and provided additional funds needed to pay for salaries and wages, utilities, repair leaks, fix campus flooding and retirement pay, upgrade laboratory facilities and learning, and other operational expenses.
“At that time, PWU was bleeding financially and was about to be foreclosed upon by Banco de Oro,” it said.
STI also provided the professional and technical support to establish the financial, accounting and human-resources system PWU needs.
“PWU was deteriorating financially and physically, and was even about to lose its key accreditation because its quality of education had slipped. Enrollment has also been on the decline,” Jacob said.
STI had to invest more funds to arrest PWU’s bleeding, fix the school premises and upgrade substantially its quality of education.
STI served notices of default on PWU and its sister company, Unlad Resources, on December 9 and gave them seven days to pay the accumulated amount of P923 million, or turn over the school’s majority.