Today is supposed to be the opening day of classes for the extension campus of the Cebu Technological University (CTU) as previously promised by Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa of Cebu City’s south district.
But based on the pronouncement of a top CTU official who confirmed that there is no enrollment for an extension campus in the site, only the conduct of admission tests, Abellanosa’s claims failed to stand scrutiny.
“If you try to look at the tarpaulin (hoisted atop the proposed extension campus site), it says enrollment is going on. But there is no such thing as enrollment because we only conducted an admission test. That’s just preliminary before we can admit a student. So there are still no students,” said Jerlito Letrondo, CTU’s chief administrative officer for administration.
In a meeting with City Legal Officer Jerone Castillo, Letrondo categorically stated that there was no agreement signed between the city government and the state university for an extension campus, nor had there been an approval from the school’s Board of Regents.
Pedro Fudolig, chief of the technical division for the regional Commission on Higher Education (Ched-7), told Cebu Daily News that a campus extension should also be recognized and approved by the main campus’ board.
“It is the main campus who will decide whether to approve it or not. It takes also one year to comply with the requirements for the opening of an extension campus,” Fudolig said.
Yet Abellanosa insisted that the course programs offered in the extension campus come from the school which is why Ched didn’t recognize it as a separate entity.
So why is the congressman still insisting that Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama should support this extension campus instead of questioning it when the CTU officials have confirmed that there was no greenlight from them to establish it in the first place?
It’s about money. Abellanosa facilitated the allocation of P3 million for the extension campus which is included in this year’s budget. Suffice it to say that if the extension campus doesn’t push through, the funding will go straight back to the national coffers.
No one is accusing Abellanosa–at least openly–of corruption in this case but that’s not how his critics see it.
His recent conviction of conflict of interest by the Ombudsman after his Asian College of Technology (ACT) received the bulk of funding from Cebu City’s scholarship program also doesn’t paint a pretty picture of him.
At least unlike the case of the ACT scholars, the CTU students who “enrolled” in the extension campus can always report to the main campus for classes. As to whether or not Abellanosa is up to pursuing the extension campus is entirely up to him.