196 scholars get P6T rental subsidy from CH

Instead of warm sunlight, Cheny Ann Apalla used to wake up to the sight of stars that blanket the smog-free skies in their home in the mountain barangay of Lusaran, Cebu City.

Then a freshman Bachelor of Arts in Filipino student, Cheny had to leave home before daybreak to make it to school on time.

Studying in Cebu Normal University, she traveled 65 kilometers back and forth on weekdays for the first few months of her first year in college.

The eldest in a brood of six, Cheny saw the need to find a more convenient place to help her barangay worker-mother and driver-father, as she used to spend around P200 for every trip to and from school alone.

“I wanted to help my parents save, that’s why I decided to live in the City(-owned) condominium. It helped us a lot because I only had to pay P350 a month and that already included boarding and utilities,” she told SunStar Cebu.

But two years into her stay, Cheny found herself packing her bags and searching for a new place.

Located on N. Bacalso Ave., the condo, or the Hilly Land Dormitory, was built in the late ‘90s as a medium-rise socialized housing project. It was later converted to house city scholars from mountain barangays.

However, engineers from the General Services Office and the Office of the Building Official (OBO) inspected the condo in June 2016 and found out that it showed many signs of damage.

A year later, the Department of Engineering and Public Works and OBO condemned the structure after it was discovered that it sits on top of a sinkhole.

Cheny currently stays in a boarding house on J. Urgello St., paying P1,375 a month.

With her rent now more expensive, the 19-year-old said her parents have to borrow money from friends and relatives to make ends meet.

The third year student is one of around 196 scholars from the mountain barangays who received P6,000 each as rental subsidy for six months from the City Government yesterday. The scholars previously occupied the now condemned five-story condominium.

“This is really a big help for us. For me, I will give half to my parents to pay off our debts. I will use the other half to pay off my dues to my landlady,” she said.

Kevin Crister Paz, administrator of the condominium, said the rental subsidy was sourced out from the City’s Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. funds.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who spoke before the scholars, said he plans to deploy buses in the mountains to ferry students to and from school next year.

“I understand how it must be for you. We’ll deploy buses at) Transcentral Highway and we will provide it daily so you can go to and from school every day. One of these days, the City will set up a college in the mountain barangays. You may have graduated by then, but at least the next generation will have a chance),” he said in Cebuano.