Council seeking payment of scholars’ fees, stipends

The Cebu City Council wants a meeting with the scholarship committee and the Asian College of Technology (ACT) to resolve the plight of 4,500 scholars who stopped schooling due to unpaid tuition.

Councilor Noel Wenceslao plans to pass a resolution in today’s regular session calling for an executive session with ACT owner and Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa of Cebu City’s south district and the scholarship committee on this issue.

The city owes P119 million in unpaid tuition to ACT which covers school year 2012 and 2013.

The Cebu City government appropriated P300 million for its scholarship program this year.

Councilor Eugenio Gabuya said several ACT scholars wanted to go back to school even if they haven’t paid the tuition.

Future of students

There were also scholars whose grades were not released last year.

Mayor Michael Rama’s executive assistant Jose Daluz III, who used to head the scholarship committee, asked the council to approve the P371 million in scholarship funds for 2014.

Daluz said the scholarship committee withheld tuition payments due to a pending case for conflict of interest which taxpayer Philip Banguiran filed against Abellanosa.

“We have to resolve the issue now. It’s not about Bebot (Abellanosa). It’s about the future of the students,” Councilor and budget committee chariperson Margot Osmeña said.

The council also voiced concern on the non-release of the P1,000 allowance of the city’s 14,600 scholars this year.

Requirements

Scholarship committee member Ester Cubero said they couldn’t release the allowances because of delays in the submission of their students master list by colleges and universities participating in the city scholarship program.

“We are of the opinion that if the court upholds the complaint (against Abellanosa), his school will have to return to the city even payments made as earlier as 2010 because it was an illegal transaction,” Daluz said.

But he clarified that since Abellanosa is in Congress, ACT will again qualify for the city’s scholarship program.

Wenceslao told Daluz that unless the court rules in Banguiran’s favor, the city’s transactions with ACT are presumed as legitimate.

But Daluz said the presumption of innocence only applies to criminal cases.

“If we release the money (to ACT) what does the city have to lose after releasing the money? It was already an appropriated money. It’s not really a loss to us,” Osmeña told Daluz.

Daluz said the officials who authorized the release of payment to ACT could be held liable in case the court rules in favor of Banguiran’s complaint.