Mayor wants Ludo to give scholarships to 4T students

Each scholar may get a P40,000 grant for a four-year college education

CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña wants the proponent of the proposed coal-fired power plant project in Barangay Sawang Calero to sponsor 4,000 scholars in four barangays in the city.

In a news conference last Monday, Osmeña said he proposed to the representatives of Ludo Power Corp. (LPC) to give 1,000 scholarships each to students in Barangays Sawang Calero, Pasil, Suba and Duljo-Fatima if they proceed with the project.

Each scholar may get a P40,000 grant for a four-year college education, or a total of P160 million worth of grants.

“If you’re willing to go that far and the people will like it, I will push for it because I want to save the future of these 4,000 kids,” Osmeña said.

Osmeña said representatives of LPC met with him last week to discuss the project.

Osmeña said the proponents told him they will think about it.

Osmeña said the proposal will also be presented to the affected residents to see if they agree with it.

“The basic issue here is public acceptability. If the public likes it even if it’s whatever, I will just go along with the public. If the public doesn’t like it even if it’s legal, then I will not allow it,” he told reporters.

Osmeña said the City will pay attention to what benefits the coal-fired power plant will give to the community and discuss it with them.

He said that whenever big investments come in for the City, they should not say no right away but consider the benefits it can give to the people.

The 300-megawatt proposed coal- fired power plant of LPC is expected to cost around $500 million, Osmeña said.

When the proposed Ludo coal-fired power plant project was first presented in the City Council lat April, it was met with opposition by some residents.

There are also residents who supported the project during a public hearing conducted by the Council’s committee on environment, then chaired by former Councilor Ma. Nida Cabrera.

Once it gets the approval of the majority of the people, Osmeña said he will let LPC transfer the funds intended for the scholarships to the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Rafi).

Rafi, Osmeña said, will establish the criteria for the scholarship grant and other mechanisms.

Asked why he chose Rafi as the caretaker of the scholarship program, Osmeña said he doesn’t want to be questioned about the recipients of the scholarship. Also, Rafi is apolitical, Osmeña said. Right now, a resolution to reclassify the land use of site of the coal-fired power plant is pending at the Council.

LPC wants their site to be classified as medium- and high-intensity industrial districts (I2) instead of low-intensity districts (I1).

City Ordinance 1656, known as the Cebu City Zoning Ordinance, provides that power plants should only be allowed in areas under I2.

The project site’s I1 classification was among the four grounds cited by the committee on environment when they disapproved the project earlier this year. RVC