CH wants contract with ACT revisited

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City government wants to revisit the contracts it entered with Asian College of Technology International Educational Foundation five years ago.

 The city government required the institution to submit all pertinent documents to find out if South District Representative Rodrigo Abellanosa was still the signatory when Asian College of Technology was renamed ACTIEF in 2010.

But, ACTIEF lawyer Edison Arriola said the move could be a “ploy to digress from the issue of the city’s failure to comply with its obligations to its scholars.”

Arriola clarified that there was neither undertaking nor attempt to change the name of the school. He said Abellanosa was the trustee-president of ACTIEF when he signed the accreditation of his school on June 14, 2010.

Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella said he asked Arriola during a meeting Monday on this, however, the latter failed to answer.

 “I asked if Abellanosa is still part of the institution but the lawyer could not answer that’s why we need all the documents be reviewed. We have to look into the apparent confusion,” he said.

 “We have to be prudent and circumspect about this because there’s already a finding of administrative guilt of conflict of interest and misconduct before the Office of the Ombudsman. In so far of the criminal case, there’s already a finding of probable cause of violation of the anti-graft law filed before the Sandiganbayan,” he added.

Abellanosa was earlier found guilty of conflict of interest by the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas for entering into a contract with the city government while he was still a member of the City Council.

  Abellanosa contended earlier that his election to public office in 2013 made the complaint moot and academic. “I have ceased to be ACT president and member of the board since I assumed as representative of Cebu City South District on July 1, 2013,” he said. 

 Arriola subsequently agreed to submit documents on April 13, which is also the schedule of their second meeting with the scholarship committee, some city councilors, and city attorney who will review the contracts.

“While we would like to believe that the city’s scholarship committee should already have documents related to the scholarship program, we don’t mind assisting them upon our receipt of the city’s request. We just hope this is not another ploy to digress from the issue,” Arriola said.

 Moreover, Arriola said the city can directly pay the scholars or their parents instead of consigning payments in court.

“The scholarship program is about the scholars. The city should fulfill its obligation to the scholars regardless of the scholar’s chosen school or known political affiliation.  We just hope that they make a clear stand for everybody’s sake. That’s all that we ask,” he said.

 The city plans to deposit before the court the amount of P161 million,  including P26 million for the second semester of the current school year, representing its obligation to ACTIEF pending the resolution of the issue on whether or not it should pay the tuition fees of the city scholars.

 The option was considered after the school refused to release the transcript of records of the graduating city scholars because of unpaid tuition fees.

Labella said even if the city will pay ACTIEF, the transcript of records would still not be released yet owing to the pending issuance of a special order from the Commission on Higher Education. The SO is issued three months after the school applies for it.

 Labella is hoping that the city could pay the monetary dues to ACTIEF despite DILG and Office of the Ombudsman’s non-issuance of legal opinion. — (FREEMAN)