P-Noy urged to probe controversy: Officials order return classes in MP college

By Angel Baybay

BONTOC, Mountain Province – President Aquino was urged to probe the ongoing controversy at the Mountain Province State Polytechnic College even as municipal and provincial officials here bound themselves to what could be considered the most unpopular agreement in their effort to protect the interest of students whom they said were the “real victims” in the controversy.

This, after what seemedof school authorities to implement a July 6 resolution of the provincial peace and order council and a July 13 order of the Commission on Higher Education to resume regular operations at MPSPC.

Gov. Leonard Mayaen and other officials of the province said they did not want to take the alarming situation sitting down.

“There were no classes at the college for the past one and a half month. We must now act as one with a solid voice for the interest of the students and the institution. This is not to side with any of the parties at the college but it is but now is the time for us to make a decision as leaders regardless of its political implications,” said Mayaen who presided over the meeting Thursday at the provincial capitol.

Aside from the governor, the meeting was attended by vice governor BonifacioLacwasan, board member Alfonso Kiat-ong, Barlig mayor Edmund Sidchayao and vice mayor PioCupasan, Natonin vice mayor Abel Bagsao, Sadanga vice mayor Joseph Apopot. Bontoc mayor PascualSacgaca and vice mayor William Aspilan, Robert Pangod representing Sagada mayor Eduardo Latawan, Besao mayor Wellington Pooten and vice mayor Harry Baliaga.

Also in attendance were Tadian mayor Anthony Wooden, Bauko councilor Romeo Pagedped and Tom Libong who represented mayor Simon Lacwasan.

The meeting ended with a resolution with the following content: Requesting the board of trustees to cause MPSPC president Nieves Dacyon to go on leave and assign an officer-in-charge to administer and manage the affairs of the institution while waiting for the result of investigations conducted by fact-finding teams; calling for the resumption of classes on Monday (August 8) and giving authority to the governor to utilize all legal means including asking the police to ensure the peaceful start of classes; and, requesting presidents of the faculty club and the student body to take a leave from their official functions as president of their respective organizations and turn over the responsibilities to their vice presidents.

Mayaen in an interview said he had requested the provincial police chief Supt. Fortunato Albas to ensure that order shall be observed in the resumption of classes at MPSPC this coming Monday and the next days.

Serious discussions preceded the resolution. All the participants shared the same fear that graduation may not be had next year should classes remain to be suspended.

“We could not let anyone deny parents their wish to see their child finish college by March. Even if teachers will give a passing mark to all their students this semester, how could they expect them to hurdle board examinations should they not teach them their lessons?” asked a participant.

Vice mayor Abel Bagsao related the problem of parents in Natonin who could not readily produce transportation expenses of their children going back and forth to the capital town just to check whether classes have resumed.

Robert Pangod said that the people of Sagada want students go back to their classrooms. He supported his claim with a result of a conducted survey pointing out that 70% of the respondents wanted to see students going back to school.

Even as the officials said that an impartial investigation against Dacyon must be done, many said they did not want an “operational shutdown,”
Wooden likened a shutdown to killing a sick person to remedy an illness. “You cannot heal a sick person by killing him. What is needed is to carefully have him checked-up and let authorized doctors prescribe the needed medicine.”

The officials also said that calling for the presidents of the faculty and student body to turn over their responsibilities to their vice presidents is to allow an impartial investigation of the impasse.

The officials said they will make representations to the BOT so that a meeting will be scheduled the soonest such that it could act immediately on the resolution.

The officials also decided to organize a monitoring team to be headed by province provincial administrator Franklin Odsey, lawyer EinsteinCalaoa and retired colonel AnacletoTangilag as members.

The team shall closely monitor the smooth implementation of classes and submit reports to the council.

In a separate development, some classes were observed to have been going on since last week under some trees at the provincial plaza and in houses within in the central district here.

According to one instructor, she and other teachers organized classes due to clamor of students and parents.

Since June and first week of July, massive protests along the main streets of central Bontoc were participated by faculty members, non-teaching personnel, students, individuals and civil society groups on the perceived anomalies in the college urging Dacyon to resign.

Among the issues brought out were graft and corruption, flawed employment, revocation of designation and designation of some personnel, harassment, lack of transparency, collection and expenditure of school fees intended for library build up, student development, laboratory, cultural programs and related learning experience for graduating nursing students. – With a report from Gina Dizon