MOUNTAIN PROVINCE

State school renegotiates use of controversial private lands to decongest campus
BY DEXTER A. SEE

BAUKO, Mountain Province – The administration of the Mountain province State Polytechnic College here (MPSPC) is on the process of renegotiating the use of a privately-owned lands in Baang for the institution’s research extension and development and production units to ensure continuity in the implementation of vital projects and programs that would be beneficial to the school in the future.

Dr. Nieves A. Dacyon, MPSPC president, said that efforts are now geared towards survival in preparation for the impending abolition of the aid being provided by the national government to state universities and colleges in the country, thus, idle properties of the State-run institution must be made productive coupled with the tapping of private properties for productive projects.

Earlier, Rep. Victor S. Dominguez donated a 20-hectare property within the MPSPC campus in Baang to be used as a future expansion site of the school to decongest its overcrowded campus in the capital town of Bontoc.

However, Dominguez withdrew the donation of the property after residents in the area strongly opposed such donation claiming that the legislator does not own the properties despite the existence of tax declarations under his name.

With the withdrawal of the donation, what were left for the school includes three buildings, a completed administration building, and two uncompleted academic buildings and the area occupied by the said structures.

Dacyon added that the development of the properties must be included in the assessment to improve the management of the various Baang-based projects.

She expressed confidence that the land owners will truly appreciate the efforts of the institution to develop into one of the more productive institutions in the country in the future.

Dominguez said that he is willing to renegotiate with MPSPC officials on the utilization and donation of a portion of his property in Baang but it will no longer be the same land area to prevent further conflicts.

Initially, the lawmaker disclosed that he is willing to allow the school to use a portion of the 20-hectare property for various income-generating projects provided that the school will not build permanent structures in the area.

Dominguez is considered to be the father of MPSPC because he was the one who initiated its conception into a State college during his term in the early 1990s.

Dacyon believes that the expansion of MPSPC in Baang will not only provide a conducive environment for learning but it will also perk up economic activities within he community which will benefit the people and their dependents.