School, community seek help on BSU integration

THE Provincial Board of Benguet was asked to intercede and investigate the integration of the Buguias–Loo Polytechnic College (BLPC) to the Benguet State University–Buguias Campus.

This came when some teaching and non–teaching staff of the campus, together with the community, protested against the integration because of alleged empty promises and the recent order of BSU administration to phase out the enrollment of the first year high school or grade seven.

The staff recently submitted a letter to Benguet Representative Ronald Cosalan that stated the situation of the campus. They requested Cosalan and the board to investigate and intercede on the matter.

They revealed before the integration of the school to BSU, they were then undergoing series of difficulties with the administration. “We were at a loss and we didn’t know who to cling or turn to at that time to help us. How BSU entered into the picture, we cannot remember, but it was an opportune time for them to initiate and introduce the Integration Law.”

Allegedly, the integration law was presented to the staff convincingly and it offered so much promises. They warmly welcomed the law as a means to escape from their predicament.

However, after 11 long years when the school was already integrated to BSU, the staff realized that the promises were all in vain.

Among the promises mentioned are the upliftment and facelift of the school and the enhancement of its teachers. The staff claimed these were minimally realized by the administration. They had been reminding the administration but to no avail.

On March 23, Executive Dean Basito Cotiw–an told the staff the BSU administration will now start to phase out the enrollment of first year high school or grade seven. The order was based on a memorandum issued by the BSU main President Ben Ladilad.

“This announcement came as a bombshell to us. It awakened us from our long years of negligence. Indeed, we have remained dormant and passive regarding the issue we were supposed to disapprove and reject. We have weakened in our vigilance.”

Various reactions arose. The staff revealed the integration law divided the unity among them because some of the employees are in favor of the gradual phasing out of the secondary level of the campus. The situation encouraged some of the staff to investigate on the integration law where they found many loopholes.

These loopholes were presented to Ladilad. The community and the staff pleaded to the president that if possible, they will come up with a win–win solution to avoid the phasing out. They suggested the college will remain under the supervision of BSU and the high school be retain under the management of the Department of Education in the same vicinity. However, the staff said the BSU administration allegedly refused to bend.

This resulted in more forces of protesters who joined together to oppose the integration law, which will cause the phase out of the secondary level.

On January 30, 2001, then BSU president Cipriano Consolacion sent a letter to then OIC of BLPC Gamotlong Baldaen informing him that categorically, BLPC was then integrated into the university in principle only.

The formal integration will take effect only when a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) will be signed between BSU, BLPC, Commission on Higher Education (Ched), and the Department of Budget Management.

The staff found out the integration is only in name or in principle until now because no MOA was signed between the parties. The MOA was only drafted but it was never signed.

Moreover, the protesters found that the move for the integration was only based on the Board of Regents’ resolution 988, series of 2000 and the Ched memorandum 27, series of 2000. It was not based on an integration law.

Further, no implementing rules and regulations were made for the guidelines of the integration in the campus.

With these various alleged shortcomings of the BSU administration, the staff and the concerned community whose children are affected asked the board to come up with an appropriate action. Concerned agencies were also asked to act immediately on the matter.