Cebu City dad revives measure to increase scholarship grant

Local

THE fight to increase educational support for thousands of scholars in Cebu City is back on the council floor.

Councilor Alvin Arcilla has refiled a measure to increase the city’s scholarship grant for college students from P10,000 to P15,000 per semester, while also proposing a one-time P20,000 assistance to help graduating students cover the costs of licensure review and board examinations.

“Increasing costs of education due to inflation have rendered the current P10,000 grant per semester insufficient for our scholars,” Arcilla stated in his proposed ordinance.

The proposed ordinance seeks to amend Ordinance No. 2333, the law governing the Cebu City College Scholarship Program.

His updated version of the program not only raises the core grant but also introduces a yearly P1,250 supply allowance and a monthly P1,250 transportation aid specifically for students from upland barangays.

The proposal was referred to the City Council’s Committee on Laws during this week’s session.

The scholarship upgrade, Arcilla explained, should reflect the evolving needs of students, especially those from low-income households.

“From enrollment to employability,” he said, the program should fully support students’ academic journeys.

A similar initiative was floated in 2024 by Councilor Jose Lorenzo Abellanosa, but was shelved due to budget concerns raised by the scholarship committee.

Back then, Abellanosa slammed what he described as skewed spending by the city government.

“If the City can spend on gala dinners or whatever, then we can most definitely afford additional assistance for our students,” he remarked during the August 7, 2024, session.

Committee members—including then-Acting Vice Mayor Donaldo Hontiveros, Councilors Phillip Zafra and Jocelyn Pesquera, and SK Federation President Rhea Mae Jakosalem—expressed hesitation about expanding the program.

They questioned whether licensure reviews were within the scope of a scholarship and warned of risks such as “dependency, mediocrity, and misallocation of resources.”

Still, several councilors had expressed openness to the idea.

Former Councilor Joy Augustus Young called the decade-old P10,000 allocation outdated and unsustainable.

“These students have studied for years. But in the end, many can’t even afford the board exam. That investment would be wasted,” he said.

Former Councilor Noel Wenceslao, meanwhile, described the proposal as “very good” but recommended exploring realignment of budgets or the creation of a separate ordinance to fund the expanded support.

The current ordinance, enacted in 2012, has not been adjusted in more than a decade. It supports over 17,000 scholars, most of whom graduated from public high schools in Cebu City.(TGP)