Saturday, August 13, 2011

Umali-2,000 college students to lose scholarships if Cabanatuan City becomes HUC

CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija, August 14, 2011-In the recent media briefings at the white house, old capitol, third district Representative Czarina “Cherry” Umali yesterday said that there are more than 2,000 college students of the provincial government and the third district congressional office who would lose their scholarships if this city officially gets converted into a highly urbanized city (HUC).

“Among the 6,000 scholars here in the province, 2,000 of them will lose their scholarship privileges, once this city becomes HUC. This city will become autonomous and the province and the district won’t be able to help the people of Cabanatuan anymore. That’s a consequence, these guys would lose their scholarship,” Umali warned.

Umali revealed that P42 million is being spent annually by the provincial government and the third district congressional office for the scholars or an average of P7,000 yearly for each scholar, saying that the majority of these scholars are enrolled at the Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology (NEUST) while the others are in University of the Philippines and Baguio City state colleges and universities.

Cong. Cherry Umali.
The lawmaker stressed that the people of the city are better off if they get assistance not only from the city government but also from the provincial leadership. “I would still prefer that two hands are extending assistance instead of withholding one hand and let the other do the helping,” she said.

“There is no clear guarantee that this city would flourish economically once it becomes HUC as claimed by its proponents. “What is it in the HUC that is worth all these troubles?,” she asked, citing Cebu City and Santiago City in Isabela which manifested that they don’t want HUC anymore.      

Earlier, Governor Aurelio “Oyie” Matias Umali warned that the province, which is one of the few provinces in the country belonging to the so-called “billionaires’ club” as it receives at least P1 billion worth of internal revenue allotment (IRA) shares from the national government, stands to lose a whopping P125 million of its IRA if the HUC conversion succeeds.

He said that for sure, Nueva Ecija will be at the losing end if Cabanatuan becomes HUC because the province will have a drastically reduced IRA, explaining that the land area and population of the province - which are used as basis in IRA computation - would shrink.

“The sad part of the story is that this P125 million that will be cut from the IRA of the province will not go to Cabanatuan but will flow back to the national government which will then re-distribute it to the 79 provinces,” he said.          “If the fund will go to Cabanatuan it is okay. But the fact is, it will not,” he said.

The governor also said that Nueva Ecija has done much to come to the aid of Cabanatuan as gleaned from the provision of P103 million worth of infrastructure projects by the provincial government from 2007 to 2010, not to mention health services, education among others.

Umali said that there is no denying that Cabanatuan is getting its fair share of support from the provincial government. And that is why I am against the HUC because it would prevent us from further extending support to the city. (Jason de Asis)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kawawa naman yung mga mawawalan ng scholarship kapag nagkataon na nanalo si Mayor Vergara na maging HUC ang Cabanatuan. Tsk...tsk..tsk...hmmmmp...

Anonymous said...

Bakit kaya gusto ni Mayor Vergara ng HUC. Para walang control sa kanya ang governor...ayaw niya pailalim sa nakakataas. Paano na ang check and balance kung sakali na may corruption na maganap? Curious lang po.

Anonymous said...

Na kay Gobernor na yun kung aalisin niya ang scholar, kung wala siyang utang na loob sa mga taga cabanatuan sa tagal nilang tinangkilik ng taga cabanatuan " ng dahil sa cabanatuan kaya sila naluklok sa kinalalagyan nila ngaun" at yung sinasabing 125 million kada taon na mawawala sa probinsya pag nag HUC ang cabanatuan, ang tanong sigurado ba na nagugol nila sa cabanatuan ang halagang iyon. at yung sinasabing mawawalan ng control ang gobernor sa mayor, di totoo yon dahil mas mataas pa nga sa gobernor ang susubaybay sa sa mayor, yun ay ang Presidente ng Pilipinas at meron tayong commission on audit para mag check and balance kung may curruption. salamat po......

Anonymous said...

Mas mainam na magkausap na lamang silang dalawa ng maayos para magkalinawan sa HUC.

Anonymous said...

Ayaw naman po makipag usap nila Gobernor nagbabalak pa nga lang mag HUC ang Cabanatuan ay tutol na agad sila dahil sayang ang boto at ira na mawawala sa kanila.

Anonymous said...

lahat naman under ng COA kaya may check and balance pa din. kung ang cabanatuan ay maging HUC, mababantayan din ito tulad ng pagbabantay sa probinsya. andyan ang mga national agency

Anonymous said...

waaay!! baket ganun.. laki ng epekto natoh sa mga scholar

Disclaimer

Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this blog do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of "THE CATHOLIC MEDIA NETWORK NEWS ONLINE".

Should the Philippine government legalize same-sex marriage?