THE Cebu City Council is asking all colleges and universities with graduating students who are City scholars to let them graduate this month, even if City Hall has yet to settle their tuition.
Councilor Nendell Hanz Abella raised this motion when the council approved a committee on budget and finance report on the request
of Rizwoods College for City Hall to pay them what it owes.
In the committee report, Councilor Margarita Osmeña asked the local finance committee of the City to act on the request.
“The committee is reminding the local finance committee to act appropriately on this matter and forwarding this request to the said committee,” the report said in its comments and observations portion.
In a letter to the City Scholarship Program, Rizwoods College Vice President Rizalyn Tabanao asked the City to pay P330,000 for the tuition of 33 scholars enrolled in the school since 2011.
“Our school admitted 33 students last June 2011 under the Cebu City scholarship program who took up various technical courses such as computer programming, automotive servicing, household servicing electronic servicing and bookkeeping,” the letter read.
Now the students have completed their courses, but the school has yet to get paid by the City, wrote Tabanao.
Last December, the City Government renewed the accreditation of 22 schools that have joined its scholarship program. Under the program, the City is supposed to pay the schools up to P10,000 per semester for every scholar. The scholars also get an allowance of P1,000 every month.
Last year, Rizwoods sent a separate letter-request for payment, which was also referred the local finance committee.
Among the findings was that the payment was delayed because, among others, the school failed to attach some documentation, like the
memorandum of agreement its officials signed with the City.
The council then arranged for an executive session in the previous months on this request.
After threshing out issues raised during the executive session, Rizwoods then submitted the required documents, but the City has yet to pay.
“Submission of pertinent documents was already completed so I don’t know what excuse they (the local finance committee) can come up with for this,” Councilor Osmeña said.
The council has called for another executive session with the scholarship committee, the City Treasurer’s Office and the Accounting Office on March 25 to discuss updates on the request.