Deped leaves to court whether city should pay ACT for scholars’ tuition
THE Department of Education (Deped) Cebu City Division Office will just leave everything to the court whether the city should pay Asian College of Technology International Educational Foundation (ACTIEF) for the tuition of its scholars who were enrolled in the school.
In their answer to the petition for declaratory relief filed by the city government in court, Deped Cebu City Division Superintendent Rhea Mar Angtud, through Deped lawyer Bienvenido Jaban Jr., said they will just leave the decision to the court considering that there is already an Ombudsman ruling that there was a conflict of interest in Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa’s involvement in the scholarship program.
Abellanosa owns the school, and he was a city councilor when he signed an agreement with the city for the scholarship program.
“Respondent submits that the findings of the Ombudsman cast doubt on the capacity of the representative of Asian College of Technology to bind the party being represented to the terms and conditions of the Memorandum of Agreement,” Deped’s reply stated.
Deped was impleaded in the petition for declaratory relief filed by the city since they are also a signatory in the agreement for the city’s scholarship program.
Meanwhile, Cebu City officials welcomed the court’s dismissal of the civil charges filed by the ACTIEF.
Although he has yet to receive an official copy of the ruling issued by Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 9 Judge Alexander Acosta, city legal officer Jerone Castillo said he is happy that the court upheld their stand that it cannot continue with the school’s case since there’s already a similar petition for declaratory relief filed by the city government regarding its P135 million dues to ACTIEF.
“We have been very clear in our position that you cannot violate the rules on forum shopping,” he said.
For his part, Mayor Michael Rama also said what the city wants is what is best.
“We’re not doing anything for ourselves but we just want to protect public funds,” Rama said.
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