Board told it’s wrong venue for rap vs school

ALAMINOS CITY—Mayor Hernani Braganza asked the Pangasinan provincial board to dismiss the administrative case filed against him by a local college president who wanted the newly-opened branch of a state university in this city closed.

Braganza said the provincial board has no jurisdiction over the case filed against him by Ruben Morante, president of PASS College, who said the establishment of the Pangasinan State University (PSU)-Alaminos was illegal for lack of a permit from the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).

PSU-Alaminos is a project of the city government, which provided the 4.5-hectare area and a two-story building, and the PSU, which is in charge of faculty, instructional materials, laboratory equipment and office facilities.

The PSU-Alaminos, the state university’s 10th campus in the province, opened in June 2010.

Braganza said while there are colleges in this city, they do not offer courses available at PSU through a “ladderized” scheme. The city government offers financial assistance to students from the city who enroll at PSU-Alaminos.

Lawyer Verna Perez, secretary of the provincial board, said she informed Morante that the provincial board has no jurisdiction over the case.  Morante, she said, asked her why “we accepted his complaint if the [board] has no jurisdiction [over it].”

In a statement issued by the city information office, Efren Moncupa, Braganza’s lawyer, said the Local Government Code provides that a complaint against “any elective official of a province, a highly urbanized city, an independent component city or component city shall be filed before the Office of the President.” Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon