Cebu City Council mulls offering driving scholarship

Traffic is moderate along the highway in Barangay Mambaling in Cebu City in this photo taken August 20, 2020. | CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — While the proposed driving school of Cebu City Councilor James Anthony Cuenco could not be implemented sooner, several councilors have suggested offering scholarships to people who cannot afford to obtain a driver’s license.

During its regular session on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, the Cebu City Council publicly hear the “Road Safety Academy Ordinance of Cebu City” proposed by Councilor Cuenco.

Representatives from concerned departments and government agencies, such as the Department of Manpower Development and Placement (DMDP) and the Land Transportation Office in Central Visayas (LTO-7), Technical Education And Skills Development Authority in Central Visayas (TESDA-7), and two private driving schools attended the public hearing.

Cuenco’s new measure seeks to address the high costs of private driving schools, which prevent certain Cebu City citizens from enrolling themselves.

READ: Public hearing pushed for proposed “road safety academy” in Cebu City

Mauricio Cabatino, DMDP training head, said that while they support the creation of the driving school which would be under the DMDP, they currently do not have the logistics needed.

Cabatino said the academy would need at least two to three vehicles, professional trainers, and a facility that should not be less than 700 square meters.

With these, Councilor Franklyn Ong suggested to the council to provide DMDP assistance through the provision of driving school scholarships to be availed by the intended beneficiaries of Cuenco’s ordinance.

The support, Ong said, could come directly from the city government or through TESDA and other agencies which can provide scholarships.

“I am afraid man gud Mr. Chair nga sometimes we are biting too much than we can chew ba. Unya makita g’yod na nato sa prinsipyo sa atong governance nga anything a private entity can do, we better give it to the private entity kay naa na ang expertise, naa na ang sustainabaility, rather than we are going to do something like this nga existing na, ang problema raman diay, ang concern here is the amount of money nga maoy pagtabang makabayad,” Ong told the council.

Councilor Edgardo “Jaypee” Labella II, who also sits as the chairman of the Committee on Labor, Employment, Cooperative and Livelihood admitted that the DMDP is “not yet ready”, especially with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The councilor said they are still in the process of “rebuilding” the DMDP to its “former glory” in terms of providing services.

The DMDP currently offers automotive and electrical courses and is aiming to re-introduce courses for housekeeping, including culinary, food processing, and computer systems processing.

Councilor Philip Zafra also agreed with the idea of the two councilors.

Though he said the long-term goal of having a city-owned driving school for its constituents is laudable, the immediate and doable action as of now is providing city scholarships. This would complement the free theoretical driving course provided by the LTO.

“Pwede ba nga mo allocate nalang tag funds ang DMDP as a form of scholarship, atong i-download or i-partnership with TESDA nya si TESDA lang gihapon maoy mo conduct sa training pero scholars sila sa Cebu City government,” he said.

“At least naa tay option nga atong tan-awon although eventually nindot gyod kaayo nga naa tay atong kaugalingon but for the time being, especially kung dili pa ni mapasar dayon,” he added.

TESDA 7 director Vicente Jr. then said what the councilors suggested is possible since their agency can channel scholarships through registered training and the DMDP is currently classified as a public training center operating as a technical vocational institution.

He then recommended to the city council to register the programs of DMDP with TESDA, so it can become an accredited training center.

Vicente promised to help the city government in this endeavor.    /rcg

ALSO READ: 

TESDA to offer LTO-accredited driving courses soon

LTO-7: 1,000 Cebu City mountain barangay residents get driving scholarships