DiliMall to Open in August Amid Questions Over Opaque Deal

Daniel Sebastianne Daiz

Daniel Sebastianne Daiz was a member of the publication from 2019 until he graduated in 2024 with a degree in physics. He led the Philippine Collegian in its centennial year.

At a glance:

DiliMall’s lease award to a private firm is a result of loose regulation and presidential discretion with little to no oversight.

Displaced Shopping Center stall owners are lamenting DiliMall’s rental fees which they fear could force them to increase prices.

Stall owners are calling for a dialogue with the UP administration. UP President Angelo Jimenez has yet to heed their demands.

The controversial DiliMall property is slated to partially open by August amid continued protests from various university sectors, especially the displaced Shopping Center (SC) tenants, who say they were completely left out of the process of rebuilding the fire-gutted SC.

Hermie Laroa, the vice president of the UP Shopping Center Stallholders Association Inc. (UPSCSAI), said they were not consulted by UP during the supposed negotiation between the university and possible third-party leases of DiliMall.

DiliMall is the successor to the SC, which was razed in a fire in 2018. Six years later, the SC is now DiliMall and under the control and management of a master leaseholder, CBMS Research and Management Consultancy Services (CBMS-RMCS).

“Tinanong pa kami ng UP [noong 2021] na magpasa raw kami ng letter of intent sa bagong Shopping Center, pero lumaon, hindi na UP yung kausap namin,” Laroa told the Collegian. “Nabigla kami, third-party operator na yung humaharap sa amin.”

Cecil Bien Sebastian, consultant of CBMS-RMCS, told the Collegian that the east building of DiliMall is slated to open by August. The grocery and the photocopiers on the third floor will be among the first to open. CBMS-RMCS aims to open the entire DiliMall before the year ends.

The east wing of DiliMall will be the first to open as its construction finishes first. This part of the mall, adjacent to Apacible Street, will house a grocery (Robinsons Easymart), a drugstore (Southstar Drug), and 14 food outlets. (Luisa Elago/Philippine Collegian)

Exorbitant Rent

Laroa used to own a photocopying stall in the SC, until he transferred to the old tennis court after the fire. He has not yet agreed to get a stall in the three-storey DiliMall due to the exorbitant cost of rent in the new structure.

An owner must pay at least P350 per square meter for a 43-square meter stall space on the third floor of DiliMall, according to a DiliMall proposal document shown to the Collegian.

On top of the rent, tenants must also pay 7 percent of their gross sales to CBMS-RMCS, plus 5 percent of their utility consumption as service charge. A tenant must also pay an advance payment and a security deposit, each worth four months of rent. Rent may also increase by 5 percent each year.

“Kapag tinaasan nila [ang renta] sa amin, tuloy-tuloy na iyan–mapipilitan din kaming taasan ang presyo namin sa inyo (mga estudyante) at sa mga customer namin,” said Laroa. “Domino effect na iyan, eh.”

Sebastian, however, said his firm will have to shell out money to construct improvements to the DiliMall building. Such improvements include furnishings for the food court, an electrical generator, and a provision for LPG lines to various stalls.

But for Laroa, it is a natural consequence that third-party firms will charge high costs. “Negosyo na yan, eh, hindi na yan serbisyo tulad ng Shopping Center,” he said.

The second floor of DiliMall’s west wing will be occupied by nonfood tenants, which include souvenir shops, a gadget shop, a commercial bank, and personal care establishments. (Luisa Elago/Philippine Collegian)

Left in the Dark

Sebastian stated that although his firm is expected to generate a profit, it will not be of the scale seen in major shopping centers. Without disclosing CBMS-RMCS’s projected earnings, he said he accepted the DiliMall offer to “help” UP.

Sebastian is a UP graduate and a former assistant vice president of business development at Robinsons Retail Holdings (RRH). RRH, whose president and CEO Robina Gokongwei-Pe attended UP from 1978 to 1981, has been supporting the UP Men’s Basketball Team since 2010. Sebastian said Gokongwei-Pe has no personal investment in DiliMall, though the mall will have a Robinsons Easymart branch.

As early as March 2021, UP was already on the lookout for prospective DiliMall operators, according to the UP administration’s statement sent to the Collegian on Friday. CBMS-RMCS was among the five potential master lessees invited by UP, it added.

The selection of the master lessee was based on five criteria, with “proposed compensation for UP” having the greatest weight (30 percent). The other criteria were business experience (20 percent), customer base (20 percent), capitalization (20 percent), and organization structure (10 percent).

A copy of the contract between UP and CBMS-RMCS showed that the document was signed between Sebastian and former UP President Danilo Concepcion on January 6, 2023. The same contract mandates CBMS-RMCS to pay UP a monthly rent, calculated based on the mall’s income and occupancy rate. DiliMall’s first year of operation is free of rent (see sidebar story).