Tsk, tsk! Poor Colleges and Universities

By Mortz Ortigoza

Owners of colleges and universities in Pangasinan denounced the newly created Pangasinan State University- Alaminos City (PSU-AC) which was constructed under the administration of Alaminos City Mayor Hernani Braganza.

PSU students  pay P5000 every semester. Private schools collect per student an averaged of P15 thousand every semester.

What made PSU-Alaminos  unique is most of its student are beneficiaries of Braganza's P10 million scholarship fund.

It means most of the students there, who are from the marginalized sector, benefit from  Braganza’s P5 thousand scholarship per student per semester.

If this is socialism as what the owners of private colleges hissed, this is good for the poor Filipinos who could not send their children to college.

If this is socialism, then what those owners of those private institutions are showing lately are greediness and idiocy at their highest.

This socialism “crap” is enshrined in the Philippine Constitution – and I am talkin’ here my dear Procopio about the fundamental law of the land.

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But look what I got here, man! If PSU-Alaminos  exacts this measly amount per semester from the Unwashed of Society, Mindanao State University collects a “basement priced “of  P1000 for each of its student per semester.

“Just like the Marawi fog tuition in the university has remained the same the last 49 years, at P80 for a 15-unit load. That means P5.33 per unit. Add the P50 library fee and other miscellaneous fees, a student spends a total of P1, 000 a semester. This one’s really for the books,” MSU President Macapado A.Muslim said, ” says Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Sept 1, 2011 issue titled “MSU transformative magic’ hailed.”

If MSU produced perceptive folks like Alex  Casiple (Nani’s pal during their activists days) , the beauteous Benete Tayong - Estillore, and others who are making raves and waves in society three  decades ago (matagal na iyon, ah?), I doubt if MSU still produces these kinda   “gifted child” Wyeth ‘s Promil poster boys and girls.

Muslim deplored the share of university overlooking the placid Lake Lanao from the national government’s financial pie after other state universities and colleges mushroomed all over the country in the past years.

He said with the P1000 tuition fee, MSU has dilemma meeting  its needs like laboratory funds and library resources.

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Now, let’s go back to the bellyaching and bitching owners of private colleges and universities in Pangasinan, with MSU’s sad experience, do they now know what capitalist called “Caveat

Emptor”(Buyers Beware”)?

 If PSU offers substandard education, then blame the students and their parents who patronize it.

If it offers above standard education compared to their below-standard, then blame the owners of private schools.

Did Mayor Lim say lately that given a way parents of college students in Pangasinan would rather send their children in Universities in Baguio because of quality of education  being offered there?

For Lim was just civil. He should be saying that because of diploma mill substandard education in Pangasinan (many of them have been warned already by the Commission on Higher Education before for closure of their courses because of poor passing percentage in government board examinations) these parents, if they have their options, would send their children in Baguio City.

Josephine Bahul, media coordinator of the University of Baguio, told me lately that the bulk of the market of tertiary institutions in the Mountain City come from the mammoth province of Pangasinan, and that includes Dagupan City .

That’s why Mayor Lim wants to create a city college not only to counter the poor quality being offered by the owners of these educational institutions, but to emulate Urdaneta City University (UCU) owned by Urdaneta City that churned-out a staggering P25 million a year to the city coffer.

And Lim should act on it pronto, with 'garbage-strewn" "and obnoxious" Baguio City going to dump its perennial and overwhelming  rubbish in Urdaneta, that would be another P20 million a year revenue for the latter every year.

Susmariosep, that ‘s a huge amount for social services and others.

Susmariosep, that’s the reason why U.C has been overtaking all cities in Region 1 in terms of

her hundreds of millions of pesos appropriation for her city budget.

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Jai-Alai  is back with a vengeance in Pangasinan.

My mole told me that Angelito de Villa alias Boyet, is now Atong Ang’s lieutenant in this mammoth provincial gambling “encomienda”  who oversees a lucrative gambling business where daily draws runs to P9 million.

My mole told me however that cobradores and cabos are grumbling since there are dearth of winners in the game which is played with the same numerical mechanics of 1 to 37 of jueteng.

“Dinadaya ata ng mga tao ni Atong Ang ang bola? Mabuti pa ang jueteng kahit sa ilalim ng tulay binobola at least my tumatama,” my other bola-bola media mole, who used to benefit in the payolas of jueteng and jai-alai, lamented.

The funny things now, many media men in broadcast and prints call with regularity for the bettors to stop betting in jai-alai.

 Susmariosep, this is not funny.  Atong Ang and Boyet should find solution to this media campaign.

Mga boss baka mag silipatan sa jueteng ang mga parokyano niyo.

(Send comments to totomortz@yahoo.com)