Toyota earmarks P100M for UP learning center

09/09/2008

Japanese car giant unit Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMPC) has pledged to spend P100 million for the construction of a building inside the University of the Philippines (UP) in Quezon City.

TMPC vice president lawyer Rommel Gutierrez said the project could be the company’s biggest so far when it comes to amount of investment to support advocacy of education in the country.

The donation is the latest major contribution from Toyota in its efforts to help in the social development of the country, he added.

The building will house an Asian museum, a resource center, an exhibit an exhibit hall, auditorium and library for the purposes of Asian studies and culture.

Initially, the structure will be named GT Toyota Asian Center. GT stands for George Ty, the business tycoon who owns Metrobank, the majority owner of Toyota in the Philippines.

“The center will promote greater awareness and appreciation of Asian cultures and societies, and the Philippines’ place in Asia. It will encourage dialog and collaboration with counterpart academic and cultural Institutions in Japan, China, and other Asian countries,” Toyota earlier said.

UP president Emerlinda Roman and UP-Diliman Chancellor Sergio Cao earlier acknowledged George Ty’s donation and believe that it will strengthen academic programs, rooted on research and teaching and focused on Asia.

“The center will enhance the University of the Philippines ’ role in national and regional policy formulation with respect to the country’s Asian linkages,” Roman explained.

The structure, to be erected within a one-hectare property in the university, plans to hold a 500-seat capacity auditorium building.

It will also be the headquarters of the Institute of Asia Pacific Dialog, Research and Policy Studies and of the UP Agenda for Asian Cultural Exchange and Cooperation.

Last year, Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. started implementing the Philippine Peñablanca Sustainable Reforestation Project in the northern province of Cagayan.

The Philippines is a recipient of an envisioned $3 million as a comprehensive support to re-vegetate and reforest approximately 2,500 hectares of degraded, open areas in the Peñablanca protected zone and provide alternative livelihood through agro-forestry for local communities in the project site.

Earlier this year, Toyota partnered with the Automotive Association Philippines in launching the P5 million Traffic Safety Model Zone project, also in the University of the Philippines. Ayen Infante

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