Luigi to take up cudgels for 20 MCC graduates

CEBU, Philippines - Sixth district Rep. Luis “Gabriel” Quisumbing will take steps to ensure that the future of the graduates of the Mandaue City College run by Dr. Paulus Mariae Cañete won’t go to waste.

Quisumbing’s statement came after some of the graduates from Cañete’s school came to him to seek his help regarding the Professional Regulations Commissions’ (PRC-7) refusal to let more than 20 graduates of MCC to take the upcoming Licensure Examinations For Teachers (LET) this September if they can’t submit proof that their school has an “authority to operate board programs.”

The legislator is contemplating seeking an audience with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

After meeting with the graduates last week, his office in Congress immediately tried but failed to reach by phone the office of  lawyer Lily Freda Milla, Ched’s  director for Local Universities and Colleges week.

Quisumbing is currently in Cebu to witness the “Pasigarbo sa Sugbu Festival,” one of the highlights of the province’s celebration of its founding anniversary.

He will visit CHED’s central office when he gets back to Manila this week .

“My main concern is that of the welfare of our students who have sacrificed and toiled in order to have greater opportunities in life and their families that have sacrificed their resources to make the student’s dream a reality.  I am very willing to work with all parties involved to come up with a lasting solution to ensure that none of the students will be placed in a situation where years of their lives will be for naught,” Quisumbing said.

Earlier, the CHED in a teleconference with reporters said it won’t recognize the school run by Cañete because it failed to get a permit from the commission to operate higher education programs.

CHED had ordered the school closed last December for its failure to secure a permit from its office.

However, Cañete ignored the closure order meted by CHED reasoning that the school is not under CHED supervision but by the Association of Local Colleges and Universities (ALCU) since it was created through a city ordinance.