Siaton Mayor Albert Ator strongly denied
reports that his scholars have unpaid tuition
fees of up to three semesters in
Negros Oriental State University. In fact,
he claims to be spending some P2 million
of personal money every year to put 179 students, not only in NORSU, but also in two other
private universities.
However, Ator acknowledged
that he did reduce
the number of scholars,
which at one time
peaked at 500, after the
Sangguniang Bayan allegedly
refused to act on his request
for budget to continue
the scholarship.
He also acknowledged
that he accepted scholars with a general point average
below 85%, therefore, not
eligible to enjoy government
subsidy, but maintained that
they only number about 100
of the more than 500 scholars
previously financed by
government funds.
In the absence of municipal
funds, Ator claimed
to be personally spending for
the 152 remaining scholars
enrolled in NORSU-Siaton
campus; 6 enrolled in
Silliman University; 17 in
NORSU-Dumaguete and 4
in Saint Paul University-
Dumaguete. (By Dems
Demecillo)
