Osmeña meets line agencies head to know their concerns

CEBU, Philippines - Congressman-elect Tomas Osmeña yesterday promised the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to work on the immediate release of the budget for the agency’s scholarship program that is now pending at the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

This is only one of the urgent concerns raised by the different directors of government line agencies operating in the region who were called by Osmeña for a meeting yesterday morning at the Lighthouse Restaurant in Mango Avenue.

Osmeña said he called the meeting to listen to the concerns of the different agencies before he enters the congress on July 1.

“This is for my own education. I haven’t attended the RDC for a very long time so I want to know what’s happening. This is just the basic, I call it Congressman Course 101,” he said.

Among the concerns raised, Osmeña found the need to release the scholarship funds for TESDA as the most pressing because it will be June in five days time but TESDA is not sure yet if they can provide scholarship in the absence of funds.

“That’s the most pressing because I cannot imagine a child who will not be able to go to school because of that,” Osmeña said.

The scholarship aims to provide free technical vocational courses to students who cannot afford formal education.

Osmeña said that he will have to collect data and work on it the soonest possible time not as a congressman but first as mayor because Cebu City has the most number of students beneficiary.

Another issue that came out is the concern of about half of all operating line agencies here that are still renting office spaces.

Osmeña intends to address this problem by running after provincial lots in the city to be declared as properties for public use.

“We will file a case for that because it should be for public use. Then we will see if we can let these agencies use the property,” he said.

Osmeña is also open to giving portions of the South Road Properties for agencies which are most in demand for public like the National Statistics Office and the National Bureau of Investigation among others.

He also noted the request from the Department of Health for a follow-up on the title of the portion of the lot at the SRP donated by the city where DOH intends to build the first ever Medical Equipment Calibration Center in the country.

DOH said that this, aside from the budget, is delaying their project.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government also asked Osmeña to bring before congress the concerns regarding the Internal Revenue Allotment sharing.

DILG-7 director Pedro Noval said that the present 60 and 40 percent sharing should be reverse where the 60 percent must now go to the LGUs while the 40 percent goes to the national government.(FREEMAN NEWS)