In the graduation month of March, we may be witness to a rare spectacle of two school officials in Talisay City issuing separate diplomas to graduating students.
The standoff has escalated in the Talisay City College between Dr. Paulus Cañete, the anointed school president of Talisay City Mayor Johnny V. delos Reyes, and incumbent school president Richel Bacaltos.
The college’s graduation ceremonies will be held on April 11 but considering the snail’s pace of court cases in this country, the quo warranto case filed by Bacaltos against Delos Reyes and Cañete may drag on beyond the 2016 elections.
That’s what Bacaltos is banking on much to the mayor’s chagrin. It’s hard to believe that Bacaltos, who was appointed by former Talisay City mayor and now Councilor Socrates Fernandez, doesn’t have the support of the Alayon political bloc which sees the incident as the perfect opportunity to undermine JVR’s administration.
But set aside the political angle and we see that the mayor’s hands are limited in dealing with Bacaltos unless he insists on his way and forcibly removes Bacaltos and his belongings from the office.
The main sticking points remain. Did Mayor JVR follow the proper process by seeking a resolution from the school’s board of trustees to remove Bacaltos, who was unqualified to hold the post and held another position in another school, compared to Dr. Cañete?
If so, where are the papers and if he didn’t, why insist on Cañete’s appointment? And what’s the collective position of the school’s Board of Trustees on the Cañete-Bacaltos dispute—barring of course any possible muzzling on the mayor’s part.
Last week’s boarding up of Bacaltos’ office showed that Mayor Delos Reyes isn’t averse to taking tougher action against the former city administrator. Question is, would his allies support him or would his detractors in the Talisay City Council pick on him?
The mayor already talked tough against the council, threatening to reduce the quota of job order personnel each councilor is entitled to hire unless the council approves his P300 million market loan.
That’s another issue but it’s one of many hounding the Talisay mayor’s administration including his appointment of Cañete, who is also coming off a rough time from Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes after he was ignored in favor of another appointee at the Mandaue City College.
At least Talisay City College students are assured of graduation and their diplomas which is the most important thing for now. But succeeding batches of students can only wait for how this situation will play out in the coming months. It will become more of a problem the longer it remains unresolved.
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