GENERAL SANTOS CITY—University of Santo Tomas (UST) officials on Friday led the groundbreaking ceremony for its first satellite campus in Mindanao.

Site development for the 80-hectare UST campus here is expected to be completed by 2020.

UST Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy Jr. said education fees for the General Santos site will be cheaper than in Manila.

“The fees will not be the same in Manila. It will be regional rate so sakto lang para ma-serve namin ang purpose namin dito”, he said.

The first phase of the campus construction will develop buildings and laboratories for its initial programs to be offered in 2021.

These include Health and Sciences, Business and Accountancy, Arts and Humanities, Engineering and Technology, Tourism and Hospitality Management, and Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science.

“The University of Santo Tomas would like to support this undertaking by sharing the disciplines we are known for which we believe will help transform this vision into a reality," Dagohoy said.

Local city officials hailed the opening of the campus and expressed hopes that it will attract more people and business in the area.

“We are all in this, rest assured that the local government unit of General Santos is equally determined to be part of the UST community," General Santos City Mayor Ronnel Rivera said.