Wednesday, September 24, 2008 Mayor to close old MCC; fails to pass Ched standards
MANDAUE City Mayor Jonas Cortes may have to close the old Mandaue City College (MCC) campus in Barangay Jagobiao as the courses offered there are not accredited with the Commission on Higher Education (Ched).
City Hall lawyers are studying legal possibilities related to the planned closure.
“We don’t want to add injury and prolong the agony of parents and students, nag-capping na raba sila,” said Cortes, referring to MCC’s nursing students, during the 888 News Forum yesterday at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel.
The mayor yesterday sent letters to the students, their parents and the public to inform them of the school’s “disregard” to the policies and standard of the Ched.
He wrote that the Board of Trustees “has adopted the one campus policy and fully recognizes and supports the Mandaue City College led by Dr. Susana Cabahug, which operates in accordance with existing policies, standard and guidelines of Ched and other concerned agencies of the government.”
Attached to Cortes’ letter are the school’s historical background and inventory committee’s findings such as the absence of records and local receipts in their transactions, and the alleged collection of fees without the board’s approval.
He said that the report will serve as an eye-opener to students, parents, the public and other stakeholders of quality tertiary education.
Ceremonies
Continuing to operate the old MCC is a way of deceiving students, specifically their nursing course, which had its capping ceremonies months ago, as it is not accredited by the nursing board, the mayor said at the news forum.
“That is precisely why we are endorsing the matter to the city legal office to make proper action,” he said.
But Dr. Paulus Cañete, president of the Jagobiao campus, said that Ched already issued a certificate that MCC is in the process of complying with the requirements.
He is hoping that Ched will issue them a certificate of completion next month.
The MCC was founded during the previous administration of then mayor Thadeo Ouano, with Cañete as its president.
When Ouano was suspended towards the end of his term, then vice mayor Amadeo Seno became acting mayor and ordered Cañete, through the MCC Board of Trustees, to stop acting as president.
It was then that the conflict started and dragged on when Cortes assumed as mayor.
Two MCCs were formed— the old one at Eversly Child Sanitarium in Barangay Jagobiao and the new campus at the Mandaue City Sports Complex.
The other week, the Board of Trustees passed three resolutions en masse.
The first resolution informed the public of the status of the old MCC as it urges students to transfer to the new campus. The second resolution requested the City Accounting Office to assess and review the financial transaction and records of the old MCC.
The third resolution requested Ched to stop MCC from offering its 13 undergraduate courses and six graduate and post-graduate courses, and for Ched to invalidate the college’s recent graduation. (OCP)
