CTU Babag campus produces 60 graduates

CEBU, Philippines — Since its creation as permanent campus early this year, the Cebu Technological University (CTU) Cebu City Mountain Satellite Campus has produced 60 graduates during its second commencement exercises last Saturday.

The ceremony was held at the back of Chateau de Busay in Barangay Busay, Cebu City.

Speaking before the graduates and their parents, Cebu City South District Representative Rodrigo “Bebot” Abellanosa has recalled the earlier history of the educational journey of the students whose daily classes for the past two years were conducted just inside a basketball court in a Cebu City mountain barangay of Bonbon.

Abellanosa made a sort of a touching story how he started his move to save the students out from a “political persecution” of the past administration that attempted to demolish the area were their classes conducted.

“At last they are now professionals,” said Bonbon Barangay Captain Eddie Cabriana, a close ally of Abellanosa.

It was Cabriana who brought up their problem to the district lawmaker.

Considered as a great challenge to him, Abellanosa then exerted his efforts to find ways to transfer the students’ classes in Bonbon to its neighboring barangay in Babag.

He negotiated a government’s office who owns the site in Sitio Mawmawan, Barangay Babag, and as an educator who owns a private college in Cebu City, he immediately presented the problem to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Abellanosa recommended his plan to realize an accessible education both geographically and economically to the poor mountain barangay students of Cebu City.

It was followed by Abellanosa’s recommendation to the hierarchy of CTU for the adoption of the said upland school as its extension. As a lower house legislator, Abellanosa then sponsored Republic Act 11185 changing the school’s extension status to permanent with its official name as CTU Cebu City Mountain Satellite Campus.

The law was approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate on October 10, 2018 and President Rodrigo Duterte finally signed it on January 10, 2019.

Then to make it viable for the poor mountain students, Abellanosa again authored Republic Act 10931 mandating the whole CTU System for free tuition fees.

Abellanosa added that its realization is a great success of all mountain folks in the upland barangays while at the same time he is also looking forward for CTU’s more progress in dominating its teachings not only in the whole Cebu Province but even up to the whole Central Visayas region.

The CTU is now ranked 36th among all state universities in the whole ASEAN Region.

Its management provides the whole institution a high standard of education which is accessible to the poor and deserving Filipino students. (FREEMAN)