A capricious change of policy direction
A recent news report, for its tremendous consequent public repercussion, got my full and undivided attention. This report was about the reaction of the honorable congressman of the city's south district on a proposed measure raised by a councilor coming also from the south district.
Here is what I discern as the possible backgrounder. It appears to me that the honorable Councilor Cabarrubias foresees a huge financial problem of the Cebu City Medical Center School of Nursing. This college is owned by the city and so its operation (to include, as basic, facilities, equipment and faculty members) is funded solely by Cebu City with the taxes paid by the city residents and those doing business in the city.
Unfortunately, with the reported oversupply of nurses in the country, which is running into tens of thousands, coupled by a shrinking demand abroad for nursing, fewer college students have decided to take up nursing. A small college population generates, understandably, a small revenue. In this case, it takes a heavy toll on the city because to keep the school of nursing, Cebu City will have to fork a huge sum.
In the mind frame of Hon. Cabarrubias, maintaining the school has become very burdensome. It is even possible to hear him argue that keeping this school is not the primary duty of the city. What is clear to the councilor is that the funds that are used to support the school may as well be spent for the other services of the city.
Either that, or adopt his solution. If the city intends to maintain the school, it is a good policy to open its doors to students who are not residents of Cebu City. When non-city residents can take up nursing in the city-operated nursing school, the population will grow and the revenues raised hopefully big enough to make the enterprise self-sustaining.
Immediately, the councilor got rebuked by the honorable congressman although it was nothing personal. The legislator's logic is evident. The Cebu City Medical Center School of Nursing is owned by Cebu City. The lawmaker argues that the fees it collects from its students, whether or not they are residents of the city are owned by and belong to the city. These monies can only be used for the benefit of the city. The former mayor thus concludes that providing nursing education to non-city residents is like spending the money of the city for the benefit of non-city residents. In short, he believes that the city should not allow non-city residents to enroll in the city's college of nursing because doing so smacks of something immoral, if not, criminal.
I said at the top of this column that there is a tremendous public repercussion to this issue. Our honorable congressman, not very long ago, bridged his gap of unfriendliness with the congressman of the first district of Cebu province. It was a master stroke of diplomacy. He hoped to appease the heart of a fellow lawmaker by offering a part of the millions of his pork barrel to finish a Cebu province project. The sum mentioned was like P400M.
To be sure, pork barrel funds are allocated for all congressional districts. They are officially known as the PDAF. The duty of the concerned congressman was (as it still is) to identify the projects within the district and the agency to implement it. PDAF monies are intended solely for the projects of a given district and only for the benefit of the residents of that district. In this case, the pork barrel of the Cebu City south representative can and should only be used for projects in the south district. Lawyers have coined the term vested interest for situations like this. The people of the Cebu City district have indeed, vested interests in the pork barrel fund of their congressman.
When the lawmaker “gave†the P400M pork allocation of the south district to the projects in the Cebu province's first district, he was without moral basis in his action. He deprived the residents of the city of funds owned by and belonging to them. It was like spending the money of Cebu City for the benefit of Cebu Province.
Why is there a clear change of policy on the part of the congressman?
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