Belmonte vetoes ordinance creating new school

MANILA, Philippines - Quezon City Mayor Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr. vetoed an ordinance recently passed by the city council that seeks to create a “new school” out of the Commonwealth Elementary School-Annex (CESA) by making it separate and independent from the main unit.

It is “beyond their powers to do so,” said Belmonte in his message vetoing the ordinance.

He said he is “bound by his oath to abide by the dictates of the Constitution and the law” to thumb down the ordinance, which also proposed to name the new school as the Judge Feliciano R. Belmonte Sr. Elementary School in honor of the mayor’s late father and namesake.

The proponents of the ordinance – Councilors Bernadette Herrera-Dy, Eden Medina, Winston Castelo, Ramon Medalla, Allan Butch Francisco, Godofredo Liban III and Aiko Melendez – approved the ordinance on Feb. 8 and submitted it for his approval on March 17.

Belmonte said that according to the Local Government Code (Republic Act 7160), the powers and functions of the city council “do not include the authority to constitute or declare a portion or annex of a public elementary school as a separate and independent... school and create a new one.”

He added that RA 7160 “requires that appropriate consultations be conducted with the Philippine Historical Commission and the Department of Education before the name of a school is changed.”

Belmonte added that the city council failed to show that they complied with these requirements, and they did not get the recommendation of the city’s local school board, as required by law.

The issue started when the newly elected officers of CESA’s parent-teachers association passed a resolution asking the city government to separate their school from the main unit.

The Barangay Commonwealth council also adopted a resolution requesting the new school be named after Belmonte’s late father for his “quality service and exemplary performance during his lifetime, not only in the judiciary but also in the community.”

CESA has an academic population of 4,146 students, 78 teachers, and a school principal.

The proponents argued that CESA “met all the requirement to become a separate school as it is physically separated” from the Commonwealth Elementary School. They said it is well-fenced, with its own entrance and exit gates and has its own facilities and playground.

They also said the separation and independence of CESA would help improve its efficiency and effectiveness.