ANGELES CITY – “A conflict of interest and self-serving.”
Thus said Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) Chairman Ruperto “Perto” Cruz as he assailed what he had described as “anti-poor stance” of Emmanuel “Manny” Angeles, chairman of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
He was referring to an agreement signed by officials of CHED and the Department of Interior and Local Government barring Local Government Units from creating community colleges by mere board or council resolutions and ordinances.
Cruz said Angeles is “widely known as the owner of the Angeles University Foundation (AUF) here, one of the biggest private university north of Metro Manila and the first Catholic university in Central Luzon .
“People could hardly eat and study, especially in the college level. Now, CHED under Mr. Angeles prevents them from getting affordable college degrees from community colleges to augment poverty,” said Cruz. Worse, he added, the AUF and other schools charge “too much fees to their students.”
Cruz said the CHED should “help them improve the quality of education instead of giving them a hard time.”
In a phone interview, Angeles denied the allegations of Cruz. He said he already resigned as AUF chancelor before accepting the CHED post.
“Yes, I built AUF. I am a co-founder. But I had resigned already,” said Angeles.
Angeles said “CHED was just protecting the youth by regulating the creation of community colleges.” He added that there are some 77 community colleges in the country and they are “mushrooming.”
“We just want the community colleges to coordinate with us for the assurance of a quality education for their students,” said Angeles. He added that a recent Department of Justice (DOJ) decision authorized them to regulate the creation of community colleges.
“These community schools should be checked into, otherwise they would just be producing graduates who will be frustrated for the rest of their lives,” Angeles said. But he reiterated that he is “not against community colleges.”
Cruz, for his part, said “he is not buying the reasoning of Angeles.”
“I already gave him the benefit of the doubt when he was appointed as CHED top boss. I thought he would change for the better and revive his reputation after giving poor performance at Clark,” said Cruz, referring to the stint of Angeles as Clark Development Corp. (CDC) president and CEO.
City of San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez had repeatedly expressed his intention of a community college in the component city.
“We in the City of City of San Fernando, Pampanga have been pushing for the establishment of a City College for quite sometime. We have seen the real need for such an institution when confronted with the glaring figures,” said a statement from the local government of the City of San Fernando.
“As of latest count, 80 out of 100 high school graduates in this country can no longer enter college,” it added.
Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales of nearby Mabalacat had launched last year the first community college of the province in Barangay Atlu Bola.
Cruz said CHED “should support their causes and not openly betray their noble intentions.”
“Thumbs up to Mayor Oca for his no-nonsense campaign for education in San Fernando. Other\ mayors should follow this,” said Cruz.
The DILG is set to issue a letter “reminding LGUs to refrain from setting up LUCs.”
Thus said Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) Chairman Ruperto “Perto” Cruz as he assailed what he had described as “anti-poor stance” of Emmanuel “Manny” Angeles, chairman of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
He was referring to an agreement signed by officials of CHED and the Department of Interior and Local Government barring Local Government Units from creating community colleges by mere board or council resolutions and ordinances.
Cruz said Angeles is “widely known as the owner of the Angeles University Foundation (AUF) here, one of the biggest private university north of Metro Manila and the first Catholic university in Central Luzon .
“People could hardly eat and study, especially in the college level. Now, CHED under Mr. Angeles prevents them from getting affordable college degrees from community colleges to augment poverty,” said Cruz. Worse, he added, the AUF and other schools charge “too much fees to their students.”
Cruz said the CHED should “help them improve the quality of education instead of giving them a hard time.”
In a phone interview, Angeles denied the allegations of Cruz. He said he already resigned as AUF chancelor before accepting the CHED post.
“Yes, I built AUF. I am a co-founder. But I had resigned already,” said Angeles.
Angeles said “CHED was just protecting the youth by regulating the creation of community colleges.” He added that there are some 77 community colleges in the country and they are “mushrooming.”
“We just want the community colleges to coordinate with us for the assurance of a quality education for their students,” said Angeles. He added that a recent Department of Justice (DOJ) decision authorized them to regulate the creation of community colleges.
“These community schools should be checked into, otherwise they would just be producing graduates who will be frustrated for the rest of their lives,” Angeles said. But he reiterated that he is “not against community colleges.”
Cruz, for his part, said “he is not buying the reasoning of Angeles.”
“I already gave him the benefit of the doubt when he was appointed as CHED top boss. I thought he would change for the better and revive his reputation after giving poor performance at Clark,” said Cruz, referring to the stint of Angeles as Clark Development Corp. (CDC) president and CEO.
City of San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez had repeatedly expressed his intention of a community college in the component city.
“We in the City of City of San Fernando, Pampanga have been pushing for the establishment of a City College for quite sometime. We have seen the real need for such an institution when confronted with the glaring figures,” said a statement from the local government of the City of San Fernando.
“As of latest count, 80 out of 100 high school graduates in this country can no longer enter college,” it added.
Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales of nearby Mabalacat had launched last year the first community college of the province in Barangay Atlu Bola.
Cruz said CHED “should support their causes and not openly betray their noble intentions.”
“Thumbs up to Mayor Oca for his no-nonsense campaign for education in San Fernando. Other\ mayors should follow this,” said Cruz.
The DILG is set to issue a letter “reminding LGUs to refrain from setting up LUCs.”
