Iloilo scholar grads seek help; tuition remains unpaid

ILOILO CITY — She had always thought that education was the key to a better life. But Shirley (not her real name) did not reckon with politics and how it could prove thicker than blood.

Shirley, the daughter of a fisherman and a househelp, graduated with an education degree in March and was reviewing for the licensure exams, though she wasn’t sure she would be allowed to take them.

She is among some 1,000 graduates of the Northern Iloilo Polytechnic State College (NIPSC) who can’t get their school records because of unpaid fees, including tuition, that total P74.7 million. Without a transcript of records and school clearance, the graduates can’t take the board nor apply for jobs.

Shirley was one of the beneficiaries of a scholarship program funded by the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or pork barrel, allocation of former Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. Tupas established the program called “Iskolar sang Quinto (ISQ)” during his first term.

Under the program, scholars received financial assistance averaging P3,000 per student every semester, greatly easing the burden of the students, who had to pay an average of P4,000 to P5,000 in school fees, including tuition, per sem.

The scholars were screened and chosen by Tupas’ office and enrolled at the NIPSC, which has campuses in seven towns, including the main campus in Estancia. It has smaller campuses in the towns of Ajuy, Batad, Barotac Viejo, Concepcion, Lemery and Sara.

Unconstitutional

From school year 2007 to 2015, payments for the ISQ program totaled more than P63 million, according to data released by NIPSC officials.

But the payments stopped after the Supreme Court, on Nov. 19, 2013, declared the PDAF unconstitutional. The ruling also nullified laws that allowed legislators lump-sum allocations to fund their pet projects.

The scholars were, however, still allowed to enroll because Tupas assured the school officials and students that he would seek funds from other sources to finance the program, NIPSC president Ma. Theresa Palmares said in a statement.

Tupas’ third and last term ended in June 2016, with his younger brother, Iloilo Rep. Raul Tupas, winning the post. The brothers had a falling out when Raul ran against Niel’s wife, Angeli, in the May 2016 elections.

An Audit Observation Memo, dated Feb. 23, 2017, issued by the Commission on Audit (COA) in Western Visayas showed that the ISQ scholarship program owed more than P74.7 million in fees to NIPSC. The COA memo also recommended that NIPSC should exhaust all legal means to collect the fees.

Under school regulations, documents, including transcript of records and clearances, cannot be issued unless the graduating students fully pay the tuition and other fees. Palmares said the school officials had sought the COA’s opinion on the matter and was waiting for a reply from the Office of the Solicitor General regarding measures the school could undertake to collect the fees and subsequently release the students’ school documents.

‘Oppressive’

Neil Tupas had described the NIPSC action as “illegal, corrupt and oppressive.”

He also accused his brother, Raul, of stirring the controversy because of politics.

On April 8, the Iloilo Regional Trial Court Branch 66 based in Barotac Viejo town issued two separate 20-day restraining orders against NIPSC.

One order, issued by Judge Rogelio Amado, bars the school from requiring incoming senior students, who are ISQ scholars, to first pay their debts before enrolling.
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The other order bars the school from withholding transcript of records and other documents from graduates with unpaid tuition and other fees.

But Palmares, who assumed her post last year, denied allegations of irregularities by the school, and challenged Tupas to identify school officials involved in the supposed irregularities and file cases against them.