By Xyrah Trishia Pearl Joaquin and Kevin Facun
The battle is lost but the end is yet to come.
Bulacan State University (BulSU) administration failed to implement the 100 Php cut from the development fee immediately despite a referendum from the Board of Regents (BOR) last summer and first semester enrollment.
Main, Bustos and Sarmiento campuses were affected by the late execution of BOR Referendum No. 1, series of 2013, signed by Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Commissioner Dr. Nora Ricafort last January 14 after the appeal of 15,000 BulSUans who signed the petition to junk the dev’t fee.
The document states that a 100 Php shall be deducted on the dev’t fee closing it to 500 Php, taking its effect this semester, June 2013.
Unconvinced
The issue was first heard from former Student Government (SG) Senator Patrick Jan Carpio believing that satellite campuses were first to experience the inconvenience.
“Hindi raw ito [dev’t fee] binabawasan sa mga satellite campuses, grabe naman ang Finance Department, 100 na nga lang hindi pa maipatupad. May BOR reso naman, samantalang ang admin nga, ibang mga bayarin kahit walang BOR reso naipapatupad,” Carpio said.
Likewise, Uno Sampana of Partidong Pagkakaisa ng Demokratikong Mag-aaral (PDM) also questioned the failure of deduction of 100 Php from the development fee.
“Ang hindi agad pagbawas ng 100 pesos sa development fee ay isang paraan ng pagsupil sa karapatan nating mga estudyante dahil kung hindi natin nahabol sa admin, maaaring hindi na ito ibinawas at mababalewala ang tagumpay ng mga estudyante,” Sampana said.
He also said that PDM would still push for the abolishing of the development fee despite failure to do so last academic year.
“Kahit hindi natuluyang nabasura ang development fee noong nakaraang taon, masasabi nating napakalaking tagumpay ang 100 [pesos] na kabawasan sa sinisingil sa atin, ngunit gaya noon, hindi pa rin ititigil ang panawagang ibasura ito” Sampana added.
First round of blast
Meanwhile, SG President Jackie Gan corrected Carpio’s statement, revealing that it was students from the main campus who first experienced the unreduced fee.
“Nagsimula siya rito [main campus], hindi regular enrollment, summer enrollment talaga. Hindi naman s’ya [development fee] agad-agad nabawas, saka naaksyonan naman agad. No’ng kinausap namin si Pres [De Jesus] by that moment binawasan na ng 100,” explained Gan.
Gan also mentioned that the second wave of late deduction was experienced by Satellite campuses this academe’s first semester. Bustos alongside with Sarmiento campus have their own cashier and therefore, the late notification led to late execution.
“Ang nangyari sa satellite campuses [Bustos and Sarmiento], una silang nag-enroll. Ang Bustos, May 16 nag-start, ang nangyari may sarili silang cashier, may sariling tao kaya ‘di nila alam na ibabawas yung 100 agad sa semester na ‘yon,” added Gan.
On the other hand, this late implementation of the referendum gained mixed reactions from the student body.
Some like Karl Joson, a BS Management student understood the delay, “Hindi naman lahat ma-i-implement kaagad. Sa dami ng kailangang baguhin, alam ko naman na hindi kaya ng sabay-sabay. No violent reaction. Pero umaasa pa rin ako na maayos na ‘yon [late implementation] sa pagdating ng panahon. Para sa mga estudyante rin naman ‘yon.”
But for Mary Antonette Macalinao, a 4th year Fine Arts student, given that the implementation was late, developments were still scarce in BulSU.
“Parang Filipino time, late na late. Tapos hindi pa ramdam. Hanggang ngayon nga hindi masolusyonan ang baha sa BulSU. ‘Di ba, dapat do’n mapunta ‘yong development na sinasabi nila na binabayaran natin. Sa’n ba talaga nila dinadala. [Dapat] ibalik sa ‘min ‘yong binabayad namin na dev’t fee,” said Macalinao.
Still, majority of students from the Main, Bustos and Sarmiento campuses were unfazed by the failure to deduct the 100 Php in the dev’t fee due to the lack of coordination between the administration and the accounting department.
“I was informed by [Bustos Campus Student] Gov. Gio [about the unreduced dev’t fee]; I immediately called the accounting office, ‘yong mga tao rin pala do’n, ‘di alam na may gan’on. ‘Di sila aware, ngayon tinanong ko sila kung paano ma-re-resolve ‘yan,” Alberto J. Valenzuela ED.D, Bustos Campus Administrator notifies.
On the other hand, Sarmiento Campus’ Governor Jayson Carlo Caraveo explained that some students from Bustos informed the local student government about the unreduced dev’t fee.
“In-inform lang nila kami na hindi nga raw nabawasan. In fact many of them are unaware of that until pinabawasan na namin nagulat na lang din sila na hindi raw pala nabawasan. Pero in general, hindi naman siya [development fee] naging big deal at hindi rin naman ‘yon naka-apekto sa nakaraang enrollment,” said Caraveo.
Rooting the cause
Filling out the missing link to the scenario, Jackie Gan narrated the true story behind the failure to implement the referendum.
“No’ng nag-ma-marshal kami, we noticed na ‘yong sa Certificate of Registration (COR), ‘di deducted ‘yong 100 so agad-agad tinanong namin ‘yong accounting bago si pres, sinabi na ‘di pa nila na-re-receive ‘yong memo from pres. Sabi naman ni pres, hindi lang daw agad naipababa pero approved na ‘yon, kaya after that day nabawasan na ng ‘yong dev’t fee,” Gan explained.
President Mariano De Jesus cleared out Gan’s statement, explaining that he is not the one responsible for the delay and if he was to ask, there is really no one to blame.
"Kaya hindi sila na-inform kaagad is because hindi kaagad naibaba ng Board Secretary 'yong referendum sa campus kaya tuloy hindi nabawas agad sa tuition 'yong 100 sa dev’t't fee. Miscommunication ang nangyari, wala dapat sisihin. Wala akong gustong sisihin kasi irrelevant naman tsaka kung tutuusin, wala namang nawala,” De Jesus said.
Also, Board Secretary Baltazar Santos explained that the the Accounting office did not receive the referendum before enrolment hits BulSU; thus, the late implementation, but did not elaborate the cause of delay.
On the other hand, SG Senator Mich Abundo questioned the delay of the implementation of Referendum no. 1 s. 2013.
“Kahit pa sabihin nilang kaunting pagkakamali ito, e mali pa rin s‘ya kasi alam naman nilang malaking pagod at pagpupursigi ang ginawa para mabawasan ang dev’t fee. Bakit ‘di nila binigyang pansin agad?” laments the SG senator.
Tying up solution
In relation to the failure of deduction, the administration through President De Jesus formulated an immediate solution to the problem.
“'Yong 100 na hindi nabawas sa finals na lang isama kung may balance pa o kaya naman next sem, kaya walang mawawala sa kanila [students]. Privilege nila 'yon [100 Php] na dapat i-enjoy,” De Jesus reassured.
In addition, Director for Finance Evangeline Custodio explained the whole process on how the students can reimburse their excess payments of 100 Php for the said fee.
“You can adjust your individual account sa accounting by presenting your COR [previous sem], for example 500 supposed to be ang development fee mo tapos last school year na-assess ka ng 600 so na-over assess ka ng 100 that 100 will be deducted from your current development fee, sa accounting office natin,” concluded Custodio.
The battle is lost but the end is yet to come.
Bulacan State University (BulSU) administration failed to implement the 100 Php cut from the development fee immediately despite a referendum from the Board of Regents (BOR) last summer and first semester enrollment.
Main, Bustos and Sarmiento campuses were affected by the late execution of BOR Referendum No. 1, series of 2013, signed by Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Commissioner Dr. Nora Ricafort last January 14 after the appeal of 15,000 BulSUans who signed the petition to junk the dev’t fee.
The document states that a 100 Php shall be deducted on the dev’t fee closing it to 500 Php, taking its effect this semester, June 2013.
Unconvinced
The issue was first heard from former Student Government (SG) Senator Patrick Jan Carpio believing that satellite campuses were first to experience the inconvenience.
“Hindi raw ito [dev’t fee] binabawasan sa mga satellite campuses, grabe naman ang Finance Department, 100 na nga lang hindi pa maipatupad. May BOR reso naman, samantalang ang admin nga, ibang mga bayarin kahit walang BOR reso naipapatupad,” Carpio said.
Likewise, Uno Sampana of Partidong Pagkakaisa ng Demokratikong Mag-aaral (PDM) also questioned the failure of deduction of 100 Php from the development fee.
“Ang hindi agad pagbawas ng 100 pesos sa development fee ay isang paraan ng pagsupil sa karapatan nating mga estudyante dahil kung hindi natin nahabol sa admin, maaaring hindi na ito ibinawas at mababalewala ang tagumpay ng mga estudyante,” Sampana said.
He also said that PDM would still push for the abolishing of the development fee despite failure to do so last academic year.
“Kahit hindi natuluyang nabasura ang development fee noong nakaraang taon, masasabi nating napakalaking tagumpay ang 100 [pesos] na kabawasan sa sinisingil sa atin, ngunit gaya noon, hindi pa rin ititigil ang panawagang ibasura ito” Sampana added.
First round of blast
Meanwhile, SG President Jackie Gan corrected Carpio’s statement, revealing that it was students from the main campus who first experienced the unreduced fee.
“Nagsimula siya rito [main campus], hindi regular enrollment, summer enrollment talaga. Hindi naman s’ya [development fee] agad-agad nabawas, saka naaksyonan naman agad. No’ng kinausap namin si Pres [De Jesus] by that moment binawasan na ng 100,” explained Gan.
Gan also mentioned that the second wave of late deduction was experienced by Satellite campuses this academe’s first semester. Bustos alongside with Sarmiento campus have their own cashier and therefore, the late notification led to late execution.
“Ang nangyari sa satellite campuses [Bustos and Sarmiento], una silang nag-enroll. Ang Bustos, May 16 nag-start, ang nangyari may sarili silang cashier, may sariling tao kaya ‘di nila alam na ibabawas yung 100 agad sa semester na ‘yon,” added Gan.
On the other hand, this late implementation of the referendum gained mixed reactions from the student body.
Some like Karl Joson, a BS Management student understood the delay, “Hindi naman lahat ma-i-implement kaagad. Sa dami ng kailangang baguhin, alam ko naman na hindi kaya ng sabay-sabay. No violent reaction. Pero umaasa pa rin ako na maayos na ‘yon [late implementation] sa pagdating ng panahon. Para sa mga estudyante rin naman ‘yon.”
But for Mary Antonette Macalinao, a 4th year Fine Arts student, given that the implementation was late, developments were still scarce in BulSU.
“Parang Filipino time, late na late. Tapos hindi pa ramdam. Hanggang ngayon nga hindi masolusyonan ang baha sa BulSU. ‘Di ba, dapat do’n mapunta ‘yong development na sinasabi nila na binabayaran natin. Sa’n ba talaga nila dinadala. [Dapat] ibalik sa ‘min ‘yong binabayad namin na dev’t fee,” said Macalinao.
Still, majority of students from the Main, Bustos and Sarmiento campuses were unfazed by the failure to deduct the 100 Php in the dev’t fee due to the lack of coordination between the administration and the accounting department.
“I was informed by [Bustos Campus Student] Gov. Gio [about the unreduced dev’t fee]; I immediately called the accounting office, ‘yong mga tao rin pala do’n, ‘di alam na may gan’on. ‘Di sila aware, ngayon tinanong ko sila kung paano ma-re-resolve ‘yan,” Alberto J. Valenzuela ED.D, Bustos Campus Administrator notifies.
On the other hand, Sarmiento Campus’ Governor Jayson Carlo Caraveo explained that some students from Bustos informed the local student government about the unreduced dev’t fee.
“In-inform lang nila kami na hindi nga raw nabawasan. In fact many of them are unaware of that until pinabawasan na namin nagulat na lang din sila na hindi raw pala nabawasan. Pero in general, hindi naman siya [development fee] naging big deal at hindi rin naman ‘yon naka-apekto sa nakaraang enrollment,” said Caraveo.
Rooting the cause
Filling out the missing link to the scenario, Jackie Gan narrated the true story behind the failure to implement the referendum.
“No’ng nag-ma-marshal kami, we noticed na ‘yong sa Certificate of Registration (COR), ‘di deducted ‘yong 100 so agad-agad tinanong namin ‘yong accounting bago si pres, sinabi na ‘di pa nila na-re-receive ‘yong memo from pres. Sabi naman ni pres, hindi lang daw agad naipababa pero approved na ‘yon, kaya after that day nabawasan na ng ‘yong dev’t fee,” Gan explained.
President Mariano De Jesus cleared out Gan’s statement, explaining that he is not the one responsible for the delay and if he was to ask, there is really no one to blame.
"Kaya hindi sila na-inform kaagad is because hindi kaagad naibaba ng Board Secretary 'yong referendum sa campus kaya tuloy hindi nabawas agad sa tuition 'yong 100 sa dev’t't fee. Miscommunication ang nangyari, wala dapat sisihin. Wala akong gustong sisihin kasi irrelevant naman tsaka kung tutuusin, wala namang nawala,” De Jesus said.
Also, Board Secretary Baltazar Santos explained that the the Accounting office did not receive the referendum before enrolment hits BulSU; thus, the late implementation, but did not elaborate the cause of delay.
On the other hand, SG Senator Mich Abundo questioned the delay of the implementation of Referendum no. 1 s. 2013.
“Kahit pa sabihin nilang kaunting pagkakamali ito, e mali pa rin s‘ya kasi alam naman nilang malaking pagod at pagpupursigi ang ginawa para mabawasan ang dev’t fee. Bakit ‘di nila binigyang pansin agad?” laments the SG senator.
Tying up solution
In relation to the failure of deduction, the administration through President De Jesus formulated an immediate solution to the problem.
“'Yong 100 na hindi nabawas sa finals na lang isama kung may balance pa o kaya naman next sem, kaya walang mawawala sa kanila [students]. Privilege nila 'yon [100 Php] na dapat i-enjoy,” De Jesus reassured.
In addition, Director for Finance Evangeline Custodio explained the whole process on how the students can reimburse their excess payments of 100 Php for the said fee.
“You can adjust your individual account sa accounting by presenting your COR [previous sem], for example 500 supposed to be ang development fee mo tapos last school year na-assess ka ng 600 so na-over assess ka ng 100 that 100 will be deducted from your current development fee, sa accounting office natin,” concluded Custodio.