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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Thursday, April 6, 2017
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ILOILO City – A total of 27,892 graduates of Northern Iloilo Polytechnic State College’s (NIPSC) various campuses cannot get their transcript of records. This means they could not apply for jobs or even take licensure examinations.
They were scholars of former congressman Niel “Junjun” Tupas Jr. (5th District, Iloilo) but NIPSC claimed they have not fully paid their tuition fees.
A teary-eyed Heranne Marie Triples, a 2016 Criminology graduate, said she felt betrayed.
“We staked our future on one man but look what happened? We’re left hanging in mid-air,” she said.
The NIPSC graduates with this predicament were from batches 2012 to 2016. According to school officials, the standing unpaid balance was P74,739,380 covering seven campuses.
In a forum with school officials, two of the scholars said they feared not being able to beat the deadline set by the Professional Regulation Commission for the filing of applications for a board exam on April 28.
NIPSC president Dr. Ma. Theresa Palmares cited Audit Observation Memo No. 2016-011 dated Feb. 23, 2017 they received.
“The Commission on Audit recommends, among others, to devise measures to exhaust all possible means to collect the outstanding receivables,” she said.
NIPSC vice president for administration and finance Hilda Magtiza presented a breakdown of unpaid tuition fees per campus:
* Estancia – P30,422,300
* Ajuy – P18,360,020
* Barotac Viejo – P5,863,450
* Batad – P3,245,600
* Concepcion – P5,203,800
* Lemery – P4,837,810, and
* Sara – P6,806,400.
The school is not backing down in its decision not to release the graduates’ transcript of records.
In a Facebook post, Tupas claimed that from 2007 to 2013 NIPSC was paid over P100 million for the scholars, P23 million and P14 million in 2014, P14 million in 2015 and P16.5 million in 2016.
“Diin nagkadto ini nga kuarta? NIPSC failed to account sa mga kuarta. Subong manukot pa sila sa mga scholars,” wrote Tupas.
This angered Palmares.
“I dare the former congressman to name the key officials of this college whom he called unscrupulous and corrupt and present substantial evidence against them. I even dare him to file actions against these officials at the Office of the Ombudsman,” said Palmares.
Palmares said the scholarship program started from time the former congressman assumed office in 2007. The source was the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) but when the so-called pork barrel was declared unconstitutional in 2013 by the Supreme Court, the payments for tuition fees were stopped.
The scholars, however, were allowed to enroll until they graduated due to the assurance of the former congressman that he would seek funds from other sources to finance the scholarship program, said Palmares./PN
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