Messy distribution of allowances hit

CEBU, Philippines - It was supposed to be a good day for the more than 3,000 scholars of Cebu City yesterday when they trooped to city hall to claim their school supplies allowance worth P1,000, but many of them went home empty handed.

Apparently not even half of the 3,504 students scheduled to receive their allowance were able to claim such because by noon, the situation got very messed up after students claimed they could not find their names in the payroll.

NO SYSTEM?

The distribution earned criticisms from the students and Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young because of the alleged lack of system that caused delay leaving many of the students getting hungry as they had to line up under the heat of the sun.

“Wala man gud sila nag-provide ug master list. Gubot na kaayo. Kay wala

mi kabalo asa mi dapit nga payroll nakalista,” (They did not provide a master list. It was so messy. We did not know which payroll our name was listed) one of the students, who requested anonymity, said.

Young said it only shows how ‘very poor’ the mayor is in terms of management.

“These students are here since the morning. Init kaayo, gipanggutom na. What was he thinking in gathering a lot of people here? Wala sya kabawo na gisaway na sya sa mga bata,” (…It is very hot, they are hungry…Does he not know that the kids have criticized him) Young said.

Young said that he heard the distribution did not start on time because the disbursing officers waited first for the mayor to arrive. The distribution was supposed to start at 8 a.m. but it reportedly started shortly before noon.

“Gipaari niya ang mga bata para mu-skip sa ilang klase? Ang rason kay iya kunong lecture-an ang mga bata unsaon pag-gasto sa kwarta. Sakto ba na? Init kaayo. Does he even care for these youth?” (Did he ask the children to come here to skip classes? The reason is that he wanted to lecture them on how to spend the money. Is that correct? It is very hot…) Young said.

POLITICS?

Young said his office took the initiative of helping the students find their names in the master list that he kept.

But, he said, people from the office of the mayor questioned him why he called the students to his office.

“Gi-question pa jud nila nganung musulod ang mga bata diri. Patuga-tuga man sila’g kuha ana nya dili diay nila kaya,” (They questioned why the kids went to my office. They are trying to do it, but they can’t) Young said.

The Scholarship Program used to be handled by the Vice Mayor’s Office, but after the Mayor Michael Rama bolted Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan, the committee was taken from Young.

The 3,504 students scheduled to receive their allowance yesterday were all students from the Asian College of Technology. They are the last batch to receive the allowance for the academic year 2011-2012.

Confusing payrolls

Gerald Lariosa, president of the city scholar’s organization, said that the problem could probably be in the listing of names in the payroll.

There are 18 payrolls. Each is assigned to one disbursing officer. Each payroll consists of a set of students grouped randomly, but arranged alphabetically.

Lariosa also said that there are more students that came than expected.

“I originally informed only the ACT students but other schools also came,” he said.

He said that the failure of some students to bring their I.D. also caused the delay, because the City Treasurer’s Office is strict with the requirement.

But later, it was agreed that in the absence of an I.D., either the assessment or the study load would do. The assessment or the study load must be signed by Lariosa.

Lariosa is a second year Information Technology student at ACT.

Those who were not able to claim may go back on Monday. They can claim at the City Treasurer’s Office.

Lariosa said that it is a good thing that they no longer have classes. ACT scholars had their final exams last week.

The office of the mayor already told the Local School Board to arrange the name of the students alphabetically to avoid the same problem.

But Young said that next time, the city should just distribute the allowance in the scholar’s respective schools.

“Why can’t they do it in ACT? Kay ang tag-iya kontra-partido?” (…Is it because the owner is from an opposing party?) Young said.

ACT is owned by Councilor Rodrigo Abellanosa.

The bulk of city scholars are enrolled at ACT. The city has about 7,700 scholars.

Young said the distribution should have been done at the ACT gym instead.

If not in the schools, Young said, they can allocate one week for the students to go to the City Treasurer’s Office to claim. This way, he said, the students can go during their free time. — /NLQ