Wednesday, May 21, 2008 Amicable settlement possible between Jonas, MCC officials
DR. PAULUS Mariae Cañete of the Mandaue City College (MCC) will agree to have Mayor Jonas Cortes as the chairman of the school’s new Board of Trustees (BOT).
The mayor’s city administrator, however, raised questions of the legitimacy of the new BOT.
Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol called Cañete’s group to a conference yesterday in an effort to settle the group’s differences with the Cortes administration.
The row between Cañete’s group and the mayor escalated in the first week of May when Cortes padlocked MCC’s Ibabao Campus. The move forced the school to transfer classes to the Eversly Childs Sanitarium in Barangay Jagobiao.
After padlocking the campus, Mandaue City Hall is now conducting an inventory of MCC’s academic and financial records.
Cañete’s spokesperson Elmer Ripalda said Apostol yesterday proposed to settle the differences between the mayor and Cañete amicably, in the interest of the students and their parents. Ripalda said Apostol feels that it will take a longer time to resolve the matter through the courts.
Ripalda said this implies that once the issue is settled, cases filed by both parties at the ombudsman will be withdrawn.
Ripalda also said he believes the criminal case for illegal gun possession filed by police, being a “subsidiary” case, will be included in the settlement.
During the conference, Apostol initially proposed to retain the old BOT.
Cañete, however, objected since an amended MCC charter ordinance was already approved. The amended ordinance sets new members of BOT, including the mayor although he is no longer the automatic chairman of the board.
The new BOT members are also seen as not “too close” to the mayor.
Cañete, however, agreed to have the mayor as BOT chairman as long as the new MCC ordinance is be followed.
Romulo Echavez was elected the new BOT chairman and Cañete automatically became the vice chairman. Yesterday, Echavez expressed willingness to relinquish his post in favor of the mayor. Cañete’s group also said it has no objection to the plan.
After meeting Cañete’s group, Ripalda said Apostol will be meeting the mayor’s group on May 22 to hear their side and suggestions.
Mandaue City Administrator Briccio Boholst said he welcomed the ombudsman’s initiative although he is apprehensive whether a settlement can correct the legal
infirmities of the amended MCC charter ordinance.
Boholst said the amended charter sought to amend a non-existing charter ordinance.
He said the charter ordinance was to take effect upon its publication in a widely circulated newspaper. But the amended ordinance, according to Boholst, was passed before the original ordinance was published.
He said this meant that the amendment was made before the ordinance took effect.
When asked on possible solutions to the problem, Boholst said he agrees with Commission on Higher Education 7 Director Enrique Grecia’s earlier proposal to retain Cañete as college president provided that the school official accounts, to the last centavo, for MCC’s finances.
“This is just my observation and I do not want to become an impediment to whatever settlement both parties agree upon,” said Boholst. (OCP)
