Saturday, March 29, 2008 Student leader denies anomaly in SLU walkway project
THE thin line between campus politics and politics in the "real world" is now seen to be fading with the ongoing controversy hounding student leaders of Saint Louis University (SLU).
On Friday, Michael Karl Flores, president of the SLU Supreme Student Council (SSC), hoped that with his coming out in the open, the issue would come to a halt and be resolved before their terms end in June.
Maintaining that construction of the student walkway was conducted under regular means, Flores said student leaders have low morale because their efforts of improving services for the students was not appreciated by some former leaders, whom he claimed have their own skeletons hidden in their closets.
He was referring to former secretary for public relations Elton Veloria and former secretary for audit Joseph Dalao.
Quoting a report of SLU's internal auditor, Flores said Veloria has not turned over the SSC-owned P40,000 worth digital camera and P75,000 worth of accountabilities for Dalao.
In response to allegation that he and the SLU administration refused to show bid documents as well as other documents relative to the walkway, Flores showed the bid forms through a power point presentation.
He said construction of the walkway may be done through a student initiative if done by the SSC. He said a resolution was even passed to this effect with Veloria as one of the signatories.
Flores said it was a surprise to members of the SSC why Veloria later on retracted his approval. He said Veloria was informed to sign another resolution retracting his signature but this was not fulfilled.
Instead, Veloria opted to bring his grievance to the media.
Flores alleged that Veloria used the media to sensationalize an issue, which he claimed is a non-issue.
When asked by the media why he chose to remain silent for the past days, Flores apologized, saying he and other officers heeded the recommendation of their advisers for the matter to be discussed within SLU.
With Veloria's filing of a complaint before the Department of the Interior and Local Government and subsequent referral to the City Council, Flores said he was forced to air his side, saying the issue has been blown out of proportion.
He stressed his being a barangay leader and a student leader are separate issues. He said the walkway has nothing to do with his function as a government official.
He also denied threatening Veloria, saying every act he does is given meaning.
