Cordova town's most laudable project

I jumped with excitement when I read of the project of the Municipality of Cordova, Cebu to open and maintain a college for its young generation. It is a most progressive plan and truly a patriotic move. The idea to give the youth of Cordova, the chance to earn college education must come from the minds of people obsessed with promoting the best interest of that town. What an obsession! No one will ever question the value of education as a person's tool in his own search for a place under the sun.

Giving it at the easiest terms available, the very way Cordova leaders design it, is a most distinctive form of public service government men can perform. Mayor Arleigh Sitoy, Vice Mayor Danilo Sinugbuhan and the municipal council deserve the biggest accolade not only from their constituents but from every forward looking Filipino for their collective wisdom. They have earned the eternal gratitude of a thankful municipality. I am sure, Dr. Jose Rizal who pinned upon the youth as the "bella esperanza de la patria mia" must be grinning with unadulterated joy in his final resting place with this noble project of Sitoy, Sinugbuhan and friends.

Not long ago, the neighboring City of Talisay paved this knowledge trail with abundant support. The enlightened leadership of that city poured vast outlay to finance this noble venture. Then Mayor Eduardo R. Gullas, who as the President of the University of the Visayas, is an educator himself, his Vice Mayor Lani Abarquez and the members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, believed in the power of education and in the timeless need to provide it to their young. Without any hesitation, they wisely invested in their people by opening a college where their youth shall be prepared for the future.

Gullas and company must have realized that if there is any kind of wealth that does not fluctuate with market force it must education. And rightly so.

Not known to many though is that historically, Toledo City blazed this idea. Earlier than the efforts of Talisay City, the political hierarchs of Toledo City, with then Mayor Aurelio Espinosa at the helm, set up a system whereby the young among their population could be provided with a tertiary education. They knew that their financial base could not afford the establishment of a college yet. So, they formulated a way around the huge fiscal restraint. Their system was very well thought of. They chose talented students and undertook to finance their college schooling.

Putting up a college, the way Cordova and Talisay City do, or a system to approximate it, like Toledo City does, is a project which is unparalleled in its importance and beneficence. It is doubtlessly better than any infra costly structure which, not counting the corruption that undermines its integrity, does not add character to the people. We have seen that many a times our political leadership help put up structures advertising their names more than advancing the cause of the young. Usually, these are short lived. But, an educated citizenry, or better still, a citizenry educated at the expense of a local government unit takes care of the future.

Did you know that Cebu City had the opportunity to show its concern for the college education of its youth? Few years ago, an ordinance was proposed for approval by our city council. It had the support of this paper in a carefully worded editorial. The concept of the measure called College of Cebu City was to provide the kind of education that would complement rather than compete with the private universities in our midst. Antedating both the Talisay City College or the Cordova College, it could have seen its first graduates this season. But, because the measure came from the minority of the city council, politics, the unhealthy and jealous kind, prevented the dream from fully blossoming. Let's hope the laudable project