My previous entry has tackled the story of the quadricentennarian institution that is the University of Santo Tomas, (UST) and the situation that arose by its tricentennial celebration that made it consider to relocate elsewhere so it could meet those needs.
The plan was put in place even before the tricentennial, when the Dominicans decided the buy a 21.5 (22 according to some sources) hectare land in Sampaloc, an area known as Sulucan Hills. (interestingly, Sulucan came from either the Tagalog word “sulok” or corner because its location or from “nakikisulok” or living with another’s house which was the situation at the turn of the century as people scrounging for a place in bustling Manila) The land was originally owned by the nuns of Santa Clara which was part of a bigger property that they disposed through an auction. The winning bidders were 2 businessmen, Antonio de la Riva and Alfredo Chicote, who were looking into developing the once marshy farmland into a residential subdivision. But these businessmen had some help from the Dominicans who lended them the needed money to win the bid. In return, de la Riva and Chicote donated a sizable chunk of their new property to the Dominicans.*
*Now some sources say it was a certain Francisca Bustamante Bayot who donated the land to the Dominicans. However, her signature does not appear on the register of deeds and cannot be accepted as documentary evidence that it was her who made the donation. Historical testimonies point to de la Riva and Chicote as the donors. source
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