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THE Cebu City government will ask Malacanang to intervene and prevent the Cebu Provincial government from evicting the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) in Salinas Drive corner Archbishop Reyes Avenue in Cebu City.
Acting Mayor Michael Rama said yesterday he would ask the help of the Solicitor General since Tesda is a national government agency that provides services to the public especially students, who could not afford to go college.
Rama also ordered the City Legal Office to provide legal assistance to Tesda since the provincial government said it would take legal action to recover the lots occupied by Tesda, which was donated by the province many years ago.
Rama said he was biased in favor of Tesda because before he worked as a government official he had already coordinated with Tesda while working in a private firm.
When he was a councilor and Mayor Tomas Osmena assigned me to improve the program and services of the Department of Manpower Development and Placement (DMDP), Tesda helped train and give modules to the DMDP students.
Rama said Tesda has been at their present location for a long time and there was no need for them to transfer to another area.
Rama questioned the provincial government's plan to relocate Tesda because it would also affect students taking their training courses there.
Assistant City Attorney Joseph Bernaldez said he agreed with Mayor Osmeña's statement to help Tesda because it is located within the city government's jurisdiction.
He said Tesda's purpose is also to help the poor obtain skills to help them earn.
Bernaldez said his office would wait for the provincial government's action before assisting Tesda.
He also said that the National Manpower and Youth development Council (NMYC) has not been abolished with the creation of Tesda which would be the basis of the provincial government to get back the lot they had donated.
?My opinion is Tesda only replaced NMYC nga wa?a ma-abolish only its name but the functions and duties of NMYC way kausaban. NMYC continue to exist gipulihan lang og name,? Bernaldez stressed.
Earlier Rory Jon Sepulveda, provincial consultant on information and revenue generation, said the provincial government offered to help Tesda, which is national-funded office, relocate and replicate its vital facilities.
The offer however was suspended after Tesda director general Augusto Syjuco sent Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia a letter dated July 29 asserting the agency?s ownership of the property.
?We have already assisted them, offered to replicate. Pero gi unsa man mi nila? Its also about time that the province takes possession of its land,? he said. /Correspondent Chris A. Ligan
