Disgusted by criticisms: Mt. Province solon halts college fund to studes

BONTOC, Mountain Province – Disgusted by criticisms, Rep. Victor S. Dominguez has ordered the suspension of the full scholarship grant enjoyed by over 5,000 students at the Mountain Province State Polytechnic College here due to issues being raised by disgruntled individuals.

The controversy led to the filing of charges against the congressman and school officials with the Commission on Higher Education and the Commission on Human Rights.

In a letter sent to Dr. Nieves A Dacyon, MPSPC president, Dominguez said the situation forced him to withdraw his sponsorship of the program of the students.

“Our voluntary desire to help everybody has been after all not appreciated by many with the conviction that even without this representation, those privileges will be forthcoming,” the lawmaker stated in a letter he sent to beneficiaries of the program.

But Dominguez called on parents and students “who believe in the true intention of the scholarship program” to submit to his office, though the office of the school president, their signed joint application for the program on or before Oct. 30.

This would allow the screening committee to determine who deserved the benefit of the full scholarship program, in the next semester.

The MPSPC’s full scholarship program, the first of its kind in the country, has been envisioned by Dominguez to provide quality education to the youth and enable them to be productive citizens of the country.

In the past two years, the lawmaker has been allocating P7 million from his priority development assistance fund for the scholarship program.

Another P3 million was provided by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples for the program.

Dominguez challenged the parents and students “who believe in the lies of the leaders of oppositors to the programs” to go to the critics and demand for funds for the educational assistance to them.

He said this semester, they can no longer avail themselves of the program because he has already withdrawn his sponsorship.

Dacyon appealed to critics of the congressman to spare the scholarship program from their campaign against the lawmaker because the intention of the educational assistance was to provide a decent education to the youth. – Dexter A. See