An interview with the president of the Mountain Province State Polytechnic College was aired at the Radyo ng Bayan Bontoc this week regarding this: Congressman Victor Dominguez withdrew all tuition fee subsidies at the MPSPC for this semester. He will only resume subsidizing tuition fees next semester with the condition that students will apply for the scholarship directly from his office.
It used to be that students’ tuition fees at the said school were fully paid for by the congressman, from his pork barrel of course. After the just concluded elections, the good congressman issued a memorandum to the president of MPSPC to the effect that the former arrangement of full tuition payment for all students by the congressman would now be revoked. And starting school year 2007-2008, only selected students will be granted scholarship. This raised howls of protest from students and parents for the obvious show of political vindictiveness by the representative. It is the suspicion, and it could be the awful truth, that students from the municipalities and barangays where Dominguez lost were being singled out for their non-support. From what I heard from RNB Bontoc, this discrimination prompted students to bring their complaints to the Commission on Human Rights and the Commission on Higher Education. These last two occurrences, in turn, led to the congressman’s latest action.
This is an embarrassing display of immaturity on the part of the honorable congressman. Why should he sacrifice the good deed which he started, one which will certainly form part of his legacy, simply to show ill feelings? It is unfortunate that in spite of his victory, he still couldn’t find it in himself to display some magnanimity. So it is true that he could have channeled the ‘scholarship funds’ for other purposes, but we expect our leaders to demonstrate statesmanship, to show that personal interests take the back seat for the advancement of the greater majority’s cause. Helping educate the children of Mountain Province is one grand act which should be a great step towards the province’s overall development. Unfortunately, the congressman had to stress the point that he is the boss. If somebody doesn't kowtow to the boss, that unlucky somebody will be out of the congressman's good graces.
This event reeks of nothing but the old, unenlightened, scourge of the land, which is patronage politics. When will the people learn?
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13 comments:
Shame on this guy! I can pretty much picture what a dark legacy he is leaving behind. Cheers and goodhealth......
hi true blue,
yeah, really. shame on him! it's ugly how everything just have to be politicized, including the youngsters' education. we can only hope that the congressman will rethink his position on the matter.
cheers and good health too.
hi bill,
it really won't be surprising if some will. tsk tsk tsk...just for the kids...
And even the mature can seem to be unreasonable with his feelings towards people when he thinks he has the power to do anything at the loss of the "powerless." He would have gained more respect if he did withdraw the scholarship. I think politicians should learn. These young generations have the right too. They must not be robbed of their freedom to think and choose whom to vote.
i mean...if he did not withdraw the scholarship.:)
hi brother abella,
right. but it seems gaining respect is farthest from his mind, gauging from his actions... it's sad.
i hope the 'brother' is fine with you, sir. (or should it be father?) i clicked on your display name and found that you are a missionary.
brother as in "kabsat" or "gait" is fine. Actually, I wrote a short article about the use of "sir" or "ma'am." you might want to check:) it is good to see many igorot bloggers:)
hi brother abella,
brother it is for you then.
i, sure, would like to read that article if i knew where to find it.:-)
yup, we hope more igorots will join the blogging community.:-)
this is a little late but thanks for dropping by and leaving your comment by the way.
hmm, I'm glad I read this entry. I kind of made a similar remark to someone sort of advising him to do something (not scholarship grants)like that because of my sama-ng-loob. Sometimes kase, I'd rather be real (as in magkatotoo) kesa maging magnanimous!
you can get hurt din kase in politics, i mean pag ikaw yung politician. I can understand a politician who would do something like that but for reasons other than letting the people know who's the boss... there can be other reasons. Pero siyempre, I don't know why your congressman did what he did, so I'm speaking for myself lang at sa mga pulitikong kilala ko... kase nga personally, I can understand someone who would make use of his funds to construct or rehabilitate a road in another municipality rather than continue giving it in support of people na di mo maasahan. Minsan din dapat give and take... ika nga nila :) kahit sabihin pang pera ng taongbayan yun, prerogative din naman ng nakaupo kung saan niya gagamitin... di ba?
Peace ha, mga Sirs! :)
G
i meant "magpakatotoo"... :)G
hi ganda,
you are right in stressing the give and take aspect of politics. but what irks me the most is the thought that he seems to have lost all capabality to act in a statesmanlike fashion. the use of pork barrel to subsidize the kids' education is a brilliant concept that is very much worthy of duplication by all future congressmen... (we don't need to elaborate on the virtues of education.):-)
now, education, for me is almost holy. (i'm sorry g, but i couldn't equate it with asphalting roads.):-) and for him to taint it with politics is almost a sacrilege.
I tell you, this reeks of vindictiveness!
Hello Congressman VD, after being on the post for how many years, can't you at least do something right? Grrrr...
L
hi layad,
i'm presuming it's layad.:-)
yeah, really. grrrr... if only our collective grrrrs could somehow find a way of reaching his subconscious mind and redirect his brain towards doing what's good for the province, disregarding personal intersts. but like i said earlier, we can only hope for the best.
cheers anyway, and thanks for dropping by.
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