Mayor vetoes scholarship ordinance
LINGAYEN HAS NO SCHOLARS
LINGAYEN— The dream of institutionalizing a scholarship program in the capital town may not be fulfilled after Mayor Josefina Castañeda vetoed Ordinance No. 40-2015 or “An Ordinance establishing a scholarship program in the municipality of Lingayen, Pangasinan and appropriating funds relative thereto”.
In her veto letter, Castañeda alleged that the Ordinance “needs further and thorough study with the implementation of the K to 12 program.”
She cited two reasons disapproving the said ordinance: 1) the implementation of the K to 12 program and 2) “the guidelines set forth in the Ordinance are vague.”
“With the implementation of the K to 12 program by the Department of Education (DepEd), it is anticipated that there will be no freshmen enrollees this coming 2016-2017,” said the Mayor.
K to 12 covers kindergarten and 12 years of basic education (six years primary education, four years junior high school, and two years senior high school.
She added, “with the change in the educational scenario, it is also imperative that we adjust to the need of the times. It is therefore impractical to implement the Ordinance at this stage.”
The mayor also pointed out that policies for screening, examination, and other processes in determining applicants were not laid down clearly in the ordinance.
The ordinance also known as the “Lingayen Scholarship Program” or the “Iskolar Ako ng Bayan” project sought “to provide a better chance and opportunity to poor but deserving students to study and see their way through state-owned colleges and universities or even in private schools in the locality and neighboring towns offering technical, vocational, or college degree courses but whose tuition fees are marginal and not far beyond from what the state-owned colleges and universities are charging.”
In an interview, ordinance author, Councilor Jay Mark Crisostomo, expressed dismay over the executive branch’s decision to reject his proposal.
The 22-year-old councilor said the difference of the program from other scholarship programs is its focus on the grassroots and will not only consider the academic fees as tuition, laboratory, matriculation; but will also provide for the students’ transportation.
The ordinance allotted P500 monthly for the transportation needs of the would-be scholars in addition to P1 million shall be appropriated and included regularly in every annual municipal budget beginning calendar year 2016.
Crisostomo said the program was supposed to cover not only incoming college students but continuing students provided that they reach the requirements set forth in the ordinance.
It also provided the qualification of a prospective scholar but the mayor objected to the sole discretion given the board to approve acceptance to the program.
Crisostomo noted that there are two main reasons for the veto power, “First, if an ordinance promotes an abuse of power of the legislative branch and second, if it is not for the general welfare.”
The scholarship ordinance is neither of the two, he claimed, still the SB failed to muster enough votes to override the veto.
Still, he said he’s not losing hope as he re-filed the Ordinance last month.
Crisostomo, in his first term ran under Castañeda’s ticket under the Nacionalista Party but is now running for reelection under the Liberal Party. (Johanne Macob)
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