Rooted in politics

There is at least something that both sides in the Talisay City College presidency dispute can both agree on and that is the students and the faculty shouldn’t be made to suffer the consequences of a leadership feud.

The school board has agreed on an April graduation for the students rather than the March 30 ion date insisted on by Dr. Paulus Cañete and that it would be incumbent president Richel Bacaltos, not Cañete who would be handing out the diplomas.

There’s no question that the graduation ceremonies would continue as scheduled lest both feuding camps i.e, Talisay City Mayor Johnny V. delos Reyes and Cañete on one side and Bacaltos and the Alayon bloc in the council on the other, draw the ire of the students and their families even if they aren’t considered all that much in their political equations.

For the plain, simple and ugly truth of the Talisay City College presidency dispute is that it’s rooted in parochial politics.

Delos Reyes may have the better intentions when he said he wanted Bacaltos, who doesn’t have a doctoral degree, serves as another board member in another school and is a political appointee by former mayor Socrates Fernandez and by extension, his master former congressman Eduardo Gullas, replaced by the seemingly more qualified Dr. Cañete.

Cañete’s past as a former Mandaue City College president who was snubbed by Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes shouldn’t be counted against him unless his past records include anomalies and irregularities committed during his tenure.

But again, delos Reyes may have only himself to blame when he bypassed the school board admittedly filled up by Gullas’ own people to appoint Dr. Cañete and he only has the courts as a last resort to justify his appointment.

That the school dispute had to be resolved by Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III shows just how tied-up Mayor delos Reyes’ hands are in governing the city. Too bad for him that Gullas’ “political infrastructure” had already been in place long before he snatched a surprise election victory from the veteran politician.

Still, delos Reyes could have simply followed the established protocol of expressly notifying and then presenting his choice for school president to the school’s board of trustees even with the expected outcome that the board may reject it.

Or at least that’s how his supposed ally Vice Mayor Romeo Villarante suggested things ought to be done rather than outrightly declaring and confirming Cañete as school president.

The board’s decision to stick by Bacaltos regardless of his lack of qualifications may be questionable but that’s for the court to decide. For now, the welfare of graduating students and the faculty are a lot more important.