Treñas assures financial assistance to proposed city public college

Mayor Jerry P. Treñas has assured his support to the proposed city public college by looking into the budget and determine where to get the initial P6 million to start the tertiary school.

The city chief executive said the annual budget of some P1.2 billion for 2010 is undergoing a series of committee budget hearings and he will try to see where the amount asked by city public college proponent, city councilor Jeffrey Ganzon may come in.

Ganzon has been campaigning for a city public college since last year and had drafted a proposed ordinance “creating, establishing, organizing and operating the Dalubhasaan ng Lungsod ng Iloilo or the Iloilo City Public College” subject to availability of funds certified by the city treasurer.

Ganzon was asking his peers at the city council in last Wednesday regular session to just pass the proposed ordinance and the executive body implement it when the city is already capable of sustaining the city college.

The city council had asked the proponent to submit the same motion on next week’s regular session.

However, some of the city councilors said there must be sustainability in the operation of the city public college. City councilor Erwin Plagata said the proposed city college is giving false hope to the people here as there is no available fund for it and it is not included in the 2010 budget proposal.

City councilor Perla Zulueta said that while she is for the city public college, the same is not within the availability of funds but may later on, be included in the annual budget. She said that at least, some P750 million is needed to construct a better college building. There must be sustainability in the maintenance and operation of the school but in the 2010 budget, only 6 percent increase is posted as the real facts on budgeting and appropriation, she added.

However, city councilor Antonio Pesina insisted that the city council just pass the ordinance and look for the funds later on.

Banking the provisions of the 1987 Constitution, Ganzon said the State shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education. The city had pioneered in free elementary and high school education and in the grant of scholarships to poor but deserving students who could not afford college education.

Ganzon said his late father, the late senator and city mayor Rodolfo T. Ganzon was already preparing for the foundation for the establishment and construction of a University for the poor in this city when arrested by the military and detained at the Cebu detention camp on October 11, 1972.

The younger Ganzon said that smaller cities like Passi, La Carlota, Bago and Bacolod have already organized and operated city colleges in response to the urgent need of providing greater accessibility to higher education to the poor.

Comments