Few things accurately symbolize the discord and dismal state of Talisay City than the leaderless Talisay City College which recently lost another appointee for president.
Dr. Ester Velasquez told Cebu Daily News recently that she couldn’t accept the full-time position because she was already the director of the Cebu Cherish School in Cebu City.
As one of the pioneering forces behind setting up the Talisay City College when she was still president of Cebu Normal University, she promised to “help” as needed from a distance.
But the prospect of running the school amid a still unresolved tug-of-war between Talisay City Mayor Johnny V. delos Reyes and the board of trustees with Rep. Gerald Anthony Gullas, grandson of former congressman Eduardo V. Gullas, makes the whole prospect of hands-on administration unappealing.
Velasquez was appointed TCC president on the say-so of Gullas, who appointed the board of trustees through former mayor and now Councilor Socrates Fernandez.
Mayor Delos Reyes, who wasn’t informed about the appointment, was scheduled to meet with the board of trustees yesterday.
Unless something miraculous happens, the likelihood of the dispute being resolved remains dim.
We feel sorry for Talisay City College students, many of whom have internship plans waiting for approval. True, the leadership crisis has yet to affect enrollment but with the rising cost of education; Talisay City families with limited budgets have few options other than to study in the TCC.
And what happens next year when graduation comes? Despite the rallies of students and their families and the intervention of the Commission on Higher Education, the problem is crying out for a solution.
Not later, but now.
The desire of both the JVR and Gullas camps to control the institution has affected families who rely on the school to give their children an affordable education.
The students are deprived of a chance to get their work properly accredited for advanced studies and finding a decent job.
If the discord can’t be set aside entirely, both camps should at least strive to find a middle ground.
Both want to serve youths in Talisay City, right?
Until the two camps sit down and agree on putting the interest of Talisay residents above their own political strategems, residents of this southern city whose taxes fund the college will continue to get the short end of the stick.
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