MOUNTAIN PROVINCE

Sabangan LGU gives free education to MPSPC studes
BY GINA DIZON

SABANGAN, Mountain Province -- The Sangguniang Bayan here allotted P200,000 for school fees of students from this municipality enrolled at Mountain Province State Polytechnique College in the capital town of Bontoc.

This was recently approved, SB members Juliet Palicos said adding students will have to present their enrollment forms to the local government unit here for reimbursement of what they paid MPSPC.
The allotted amount which was sourced from the LGU’s supplemental budget will be good only for this school semester 2007,” Palicos said. “The incoming officials will consider the grant where such is the case in the next school semesters.”

The LGUs’ educational support fund stemmed from a memorandum reportedly issued by congressman-elect Victor Dominguez to MPSPC president Nieves Dacyon excluding students from Sabangan availing of MPSPC’ free tuition fee program supported from funds of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) of Dominguez.

Students from Sabangan, Sagada and Besao and some identified barangays of Bauko, Bontoc, and Tadian were reportedly excluded from the said free tuition fee program of MPSPC as identified in the solon’s memo.

It was noted that the identified areas are places where the solon lost votes in the recent May elections to his nephew, congressman- candidate, mayor Jupiter Dominguez of Sabangan.