Undertaking education programs has been a long-standing advocacy of the Chamber of Real Estate & Builders’ Associations, Inc. (CREBA). Being one of the three pillars, it has set as a resolute guiding principle for its existence as an association for industry leaders.

In 2002, CREBA pioneered formal real estate education though what is now the Executive Diploma Program in Real Estate Management (EDPREM) in partnership with the De La Salle—College of Saint Benilde.

The Chamber’s education advocacy was further enhanced with the passage of R.A. 9646 or the Real Estate Service Act (RESA) in 2009 which put the real estate service profession under the ambit of the Professional Regulation Commission, with the four-year bachelors degree program in Real Estate Management (BS-REM) becoming a pre-requisite for licensure: a huge step in raising the bar of professionalism among real estate service practitioners to bring them at par with their counterparts from across the globe.

In August 2017, CREBA partnered with the University of Batangas (UB), a leading higher education institution in the Southern Tagalog region, for the grant of scholarships to underprivileged but deserving incoming freshmen who enrolled under the BS-REM program at the university’s Lipa City Campus.

The search for qualified students was boosted by the support of the Batangas Forum, a group of retired and active business leaders from among the “who’s who” in the entire province.

According to CREBA national chairman Charlie A. V. Gorayeb, getting into the scholarship was not an easy feat as candidates had to hurdle a strict set of academic admission criteria, not to mention the retention policy as they enter their junior and senior years. 

Today, CREBA’s 27 scholars who are already on their junior year continue to make waves as diligent students aspiring to become excellent real estate professionals —inspired by their hopes and dreams of a better future for their families.

“This is the same passion that drives us in CREBA in tirelessly pushing for its advocacies for almost five decades, guided by its unrelenting vision of ‘A Home for Every Filipino,” Gorayeb said.

CREBA national president Noel Toti M. Cariño said that pursuing this vision has made the chamber continually commit its resources and the expertise of its members to push for laws and policies towards a more viable housing market for all. In the last career talk organized to provide scholars business insights from industry experts, the two CREBA leaders expressed their thanks to UB President Dr. Hernando B. Perez, and the College of Entrepreneurship, Tourism, Hospitality and Real Estate (CENTHRE) Dean Irene de Villa for the strong CREBA-UB partnership and in ensuring that the scholars are prepared not only for graduation and licensure but for a vibrant real estate career ahead.