Rama: Cebu City’s scholarship program needs urgent reforms

Local

AMID mounting concerns that current solutions fall short of addressing the real needs of upland learners, Cebu City Councilor Mikel Rama is calling for urgent reforms to the city’s scholarship program.

This included a series of executive sessions that would give students from mountain barangays a direct voice in policymaking.

In a privilege speech delivered before the City Council, Rama stressed the need to recalibrate how educational assistance is delivered.

He stressed that while the city recognizes the hardships faced by upland students, reforms must remain within legal bounds.

“Our recent deliberations… have brought a crucial reality to the forefront: that there is an urgent need for reform… and more importantly, an urgent need to listen to the very students we are trying to serve,” Rama said.

He cited the daily challenges faced by learners in upland communities, long travel distances, financial constraints, and limited access to quality education, while warning against adopting solutions that may violate existing laws.

“Fulfilling this obligation to our students does not mean that we must bend the law,” he said.

Rama pushed back against what he described as a “dangerous narrative” suggesting that legality and morality can diverge in public service.

“But in the realm of public service… the law is our moral foundation,” he added.

He emphasized that the council must avoid shortcuts or legally questionable arrangements, particularly those that could expose public funds to potential conflicts of interest.

Instead, the councilor urged the city to maximize existing mechanisms, including partnerships with 24 accredited schools and national government programs such as the Free Higher Education Law, as well as assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

“City Hall’s job is not to invent legal shortcuts. Our job is to be the bridge… and give them the exact help they need to claim it,” he said.

In the proposal, Rama called on the Sangguniang Panlungsod to convene an urgent executive session spanning at least three scheduled dates to hear directly from students in mountain barangays.

The sessions would include representatives from national agencies such as DSWD, CHED, and the Department of Education (DepEd), as well as local offices, accredited schools, barangay officials, and student leaders, including the president of the Cebu City Division Federation of the Supreme Secondary Learner Government (SSLG).

Rama stressed that policymaking must be grounded in firsthand accounts from students themselves.

“For too long, we have sat in this chamber listening to older people who claim to speak on behalf of our youth… Yet, the very students whose lives we are discussing have not been given a voice in these halls,” he said.

“We cannot find a genuine solution if we are not listening to the ones who are actually walking those mountain roads and facing these hardships.”

The proposed sessions are also expected to gather critical data, including the number of senior high school graduates from upland barangays for School Year 2024–2025, disaggregated into public school graduates and government-funded scholars from private institutions.

Relevant city offices have been directed to match these records with existing databases to identify qualified beneficiaries and assist them in accessing national aid programs such as DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS), CHED’s UniFAST, and the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), while ensuring compliance with the Data Privacy Act.

Following the motion, the council agreed to hold the executive sessions on May 4, May 6, and May 7, subject to coordination with concerned offices to ensure the availability of required documents and resource persons.

The proposal comes in the wake of heightened debate over the city’s scholarship program, particularly following the council’s narrow rejection of the proposed accreditation of the Asian College of Technology International Education Foundation (ACTIEF) Pit-os Campus.

The measure, which sought to expand access to tertiary education for students in northern upland barangays, was voted down 8–7 due to legal and procedural concerns, including a potential conflict of interest and incomplete accreditation requirements.

In response, Mayor Nestor Archival called for a “reset,” urging proponents to refile the measure with complete documentation rather than prolong disputes.

“Ang stand sa executive department, as many schools nga ma-accredit, mas maayo (The stand of the executive department is that the more schools that are accredited, the better),” Archival said.

“But if there’s this ordinance nga pa-accredit and wala ma-accredit, I would suggest i-balik nato og file (But if there is an ordinance seeking accreditation that was not approved, I would suggest we refile it).”

He also acknowledged the emotional impact of the decision on students, particularly those from upland areas who viewed the Pit-os campus as a more accessible option.

“Naa’y eskwelahan sa Pit-os, very near sa mountain barangays… Mao to nga naay emotional response ang mga bata (There is a school in Pit-os, very near the mountain barangays… That is why the students had an emotional response),” the mayor said.(TGP)