Cebu City Attorney: ‘Don’t pay ACTIEF’

CEBU, Philippines — If the Cebu City Legal Office (CLO) were to be followed, the city government should not pay the “millions” billed by Asian College of Technology International Educational Foundation (ACTIEF) for the tuition fees in arrears of city scholars.

The school sent a bill on top of that which it already charged the city covering tuition fees for the period of 2013-2017.

However, City Legal Officer Rey Gealon explained that the city should no longer entertain the “additional billings” since there was already a compromise agreement signed in 2017 to settle the dues.

“Otherwise, this would tantamount to unjust enrichment to the detriment of the City of Cebu,” said Gealon.

It can be recalled that the school billed the city government P186.34 million to cover scholars’ tuitions for the second semester of 2014-2015; second semester of 2015-2016; and first semester of academic year 2016-2017.

In 2017, the school entered into a compromise with the city to pay P56,025,730.08 without interest representing tuition fees for the first and second semesters of 2014-15 as full settlement of the claims.

Last October 16, ACTIEF president Dr. Joseph Descallar requested the city to release payments covering additional bills from 2013-2017.

Before acting on the additional billings, the office of Mayor Edgardo Labella, through the Cebu City College Scholarship Program, had referred Descallar’s letter to the CLO for review.

To this Gealon said that there was already a compromise agreement between the parties regarding the payment, ACTIEF cannot bill the same already paid as agreed.

He said that the additional billing requested was already covered under the Judgment of Compromise in Civil Case No. CEB- 41743 between the City of Cebu and ACTIEF.

As stated under the judgment, “the compromise agreement therein shall bar any claim present, future, or contingent, that each party, may have against the other on any, demands, matter arising from the claims, counterclaims, or causes of actions subject of, or arising from, or by reason of the filing of, the case.”

Records of the Cebu City Scholarship Office showed that the amounts and demands covered in the Judgment on Compromise had been fully paid by the city.

To recall, the city government filed a petition for declaratory relief seeking the court’s intervention if it was allowed to pay the school fees for their scholars enrolled at the ACT after the Office of the Ombudsman found former Cebu City councilor and now Representative Rodrigo Abellanosa guilty of grave misconduct.

The Ombudsman ruled that there was a conflict of interest in signing two memoranda of agreement (MOAs) as Abellanosa was holding “dual positions” as Cebu City councilor and president of ACT.

But the Sandiganbayan had already dismissed the case which paved the way for the negotiation of the compromise agreement.

All city scholars were entitled to get P10,000 in assistance per semester under the scholarship program of the Cebu City government. (FREEMAN)