HEAT ON UPLAND CAMPUS

Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa outside the Bonbon sports center, which will be used as a temporary classrooms of the Cebu Technological University (CTU)

Who will get to build a college campus in the mountain barangay of Bonbon, Cebu City?

And why are government officials fighting over this?

Tension ran high yesterday when a police patrol and a demolition team of City Hall showed up  to check a complaint that  an “illegal” construction was being made for an extension campus of the Cebu Technological University (CTU), a state university.

“This is clear harassment. This is not an illegal construction.  There are just chairs and temporary classrooms here,” said Cebu City Rep. Rodrigo “Bebot” Abellanosa, who attended an orientation for enrollees and parents.

He accused Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama of making things difficult for him. An old barangay sports complex is being prepared as a temporary venue with dividers to mark out two classrooms.

Outside a giant banner announced the site as  “mountain college” and “CTU Extension College”.

Classes will begin on June 22. Over 100 students have already enrolled.   Inside were monobloc chairs and some blackboards.

No demolition took place yesterday.

Policemen said they just happened to pass by on routine patrol.

Abellanosa and Mayor Rama are  embroiled in a separate conflict over city-funded  scholarships which Rama scrapped for college students enrolled in  Asian College of Technoloy (ACT),  a private school which the congressman founded in the city proper.

Mayor Rama has been questioning the status of the soon-to-open extension campus in the mountain barangay even as he declared that the Cebu city government should establish its own city college in Bonbon to give upland residents access to higher education.

Mayor Rama yesterday said he no longer wants to entertain accusations of his critics.

“I already assigned this to our lawyer (Jerone Castillo) to check on CTU’s extension plans and if there’s a permit from the Office of the Building Official (OB).  This is all about the rule of law,” he said in an interview.

POLITICAL RIFT

The political undertones in the conflict were obvious.

Former city mayor Tomas Osmeña accompanied Abellanosa to Bonbon yesterday.

“What he (Rama) thinks is politics. That is unfair. The campus extension is a wonderful opportunity for the poor to get an education,”  he said.

Osmeña, who plans to run for his old City Hall post next year, said he was in Bonbon to have a dialog with people in the mountain barangays.

Three programs will be initially offered in the CTU extension campus for Bachelor of Elementary Education (BeEd) , Bachelor of Secondary Education (BsEd) and Bachelor of Science (BS) in Information and Computer Technology.

Earlier, Bonbon barangay captain Alexander Ibareta wrote City Hall seeking assistance after reporting that an “illegal construction” may be there since he was not aware of any permit for it.

Ibareta is identified with the camp of Mayor Rama.

The old barangay sports complex is built in a  private lot owned by the Cabriana family. Since there are no  documents  finalizing the donation of the land to the barangay, Ibareta had difficulty challenging the activities there.

Former barangay captain Eduardo Cabriana, an ally of Bando Osmena-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK), was  declared winner in the October 2013 barangay election with  a margin of 48 votes.

An election protest was filed by Ibarita, who later won the case. Ibarita was declared the real winner last year by the Municipal Trial Court in Cities with a margin of only 15 votes.

Congressman Abellana said a CTU extension college would benefit  residents of Bonbon and nearby mountain barangays.

Some enrollees are residents or farmers in their 40s who missed out on a formal education because of the difficulty of going to school in the city proper.

Abellanosa expressed surprise to see policemen and the group of Raquel Arce head of the Prevention Restoration Order Beautification Order (Probe) team at the site.

He said they tried to block the entry of a sound system inside the sports center.

“Why is it so important to use resources of City Hall to stop this?  They are working on a Saturday which needs overtime pay. What’s their intention – to demolish this? What will they break up?” Abellana asked.

City Attorney Castillo said the action was prompted by the barangay captain’s letter request to check the  structure because it was being built without a permit.

Demolition team members of Probe were in Bonbon about 8 a.m.  About ten policemen from the Public Safety Unit of the Cebu City Police Office also arrived.

“Isn’t it strange that Mike Rama wants a Cebu City College to be built in barangay Bonbon where the CTU college extension is now? Why compete when he can complement? Why find fault when he is in a position to help and improve?” asked the congressman.

Classes will be held at the Bonbon sports complex until the CTU extension building is complete.

Abellanosa said a P25.5 million outlay is already allocated in the 2015 national budget for the construction of two school buildings by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).   Construction will start before the year ends, he said.

“The programs offered at the college extension emanate  from the CTU Main Campus with the same faculty, administration, instructions, curricula, standards that are all recognized by the Commission of Higher Education (Ched),” Abellanosa added.

“Ched recognizes the autonomy of the state university.”

Students enrolled will be endorsed for the Ched’s “Tulong-Dunong” with a scholarship grant of P6,000 per student, he said.

The Cebu city scholarship program is P10,000 per semester per student, a privilege Mayor Rama scrapped for the private-owned ACT of Abellanosa after the Visayas Ombudsman ordered the dismissal of the congressman for “conflict of interest” because of his dual role as school owner and city councilor when he signed the scholarship agreement with Cebu city.

Arce arrived head of him at 8 a.m.  saying she was there on order of the city legal officer to “check” the situation in the barangay.

“There was no order for a demolition. We only asked the barangay captain about what assistance we can extend,”Arce told CDN. “There was no document or any demolition order served. To be clear too, during the administration of mayor

Mike Rama, there was no demolition that happened, only the clearing of obstructions,” Arce added.

Policemen stood by observing across the gym.

Police Inspector Francis De Vera said no alarm was reported and that they were just on regular roving patrol.

“Our presence is all coincidental. Before we went here we already went to barangay Asungot. After Bonbon, we will go to barangay Cambinocot,” he added.