Rama issues partial veto of scholarship measure

CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama issued a partial veto of the City College Scholarship Ordinance, where one of the committee members owns a school.

Rama said a “conflict of interest” may arise since Councilor Rodrigo Abellanosa’s Asian College of Technology (ACT) enrolls the most number of city-funded scholars.

“In the interest of transparency and in order not to become prejudicial to the interest of the public, the (city college) ordinance should avoid any room for abuse and should level the playing field among interested schools,” said the mayor’s two-page veto.

In reaction, Abellanosa said the mayor’s move was politically motivated.

“The city scholarship program is not just for intelligent ones. It is designed as a social welfare program. That is the reason the chairman of the social services committee has to be there,” he told Cebu Daily News.

Abellanosa, who is ending his third and final term, said that with only a few months left until the 2013 election, his chairmanship of the committee would end soon and someone else would replace him.

In a previous session, Councilor Jose Daluz III objected to Abellanosa’s role in the scholarship committee because 5,000 of the 7,000 city scholars in 2010-2011 were enrolled in ACT.

An amendment in the ordinance included Abellanosa in the scholarship committe in his capacity as the council’s social services committee chairman.

The city college ordinance is the second ordinance for which Mayor Rama issued a partial veto.

He did the same thing in the 2012 city budget ordinance to oppose items which were cut out of his s proposed budget of P11.8 billion which the city council reduced to P5.3 billion.

This is the mayor’s third veto of legislative measures approved by the City Council in the last two months.

He previously vetoed an ordinance which prohibits corporal punishment on children and the ordinance protecting the South Road Properties from unlawful transactions.

Unethical?

The mayor said City Scholarship Ordinance Rama was contrary to Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

He said it was also “inconsistent” with public policy to have Abellanosa in the scholarship committee because it may result in conflict of interest.

The conflict “arises when a public official or employee is a member of a board, an officer or a substantial stockholder of a private corporation or owner or has a substantial interest in a business, and the interest of such corporation or business, or his rights or duties therein, may be opposed to or affected by the faithful performance of official duty.”

Abellanosa said he did not have to resign from the scholarship committe because of the mayor’s fear of a possible “conflict of interest”.

He said that he could always abstain from voting and skip discussions by the scholarship committee on matters pertaining to ACT.

He does the same thing when the council would discuss matters affecting ACT.

“So what conflict of interest are they talking about?” Abellanosa asked.