A waste of public funds

I saw inspiring news footage on television, few days ago. It touched my heart to see an interview of a single mother whose son graduated magna cum laude. From my experience, finishing a college degree with Latin honor entails tremendous sacrifice. How much more if the student's support comes only from a working mother? In that interview, the parent said the only wealth she could bequeath her son is a good education - unaware that she paraphrased a profound saying on education.

In our family, we put premium on education in its different milieu. I have been a teacher of Constitutional Law for almost four decades now. My lady, Carmen, perhaps from the influence of her parents who then owned the Oriental Book Store, made educational trainings the center piece of her time as district governor of Philippine Toastmasters. When she was elected barangay councilor of Kasambagan, Cebu City, 30 years ago, her first efforts were on putting up a Day Care with the help of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation. Her next activities were for establishing an elementary school on the barangay. She persuaded my lawyer friend, who owned an idle lot in our barangay, to situate the school, for just compensation, but the city administration of Mayor Tomas Osmena denied her support because he considered her a political opposition. When Carmen, as a city councilor of the minority, filed a proposed ordinance to create Cebu City Colleges, she had deepest disappointment in her public life to receive the cold shoulders of the councilors in the ruling majority.

My family would have rejoiced at the news report that our barangay chairman has led the groundbreaking ceremony prelude to establishing the barangay elementary school. Frankly, our dream is that fellow residents need not send their children to other barangays for elementary education. But we are alarmed that the area pinpointed as the school site is devoted to another use. There is a legal bar. It cannot be built in the area designated by the barangay chairman. If the construction of the school building start, that expense can be disallowed and the millions of pesos wasted. Who knows criminal and administrative liabilities can be imposed upon those responsible for malversation of public funds?

Here is the reason of our apprehension. In the early 1960s, the Gochan family developed the Villa Aurora Subdivision, where we live. The original settlers, among them my late in-laws, were enticed to reside there because there were amenities of modern living put in place. Wide roads, open spaces and playgrounds were provided in Villa Aurora, long before these were legislated. Making sure that the use of the roads, open space and playground would not be changed later, the Gochans executed a deed of donation in favor of the city specifying that the areas described in the document should only be used as specified. The open space and the tennis courts were among those that were mentioned in the deed. The use of such areas cannot be altered nor can there be public funds used in such legally unauthorized construction. That is why many village residents have signed a written opposition.