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The
Department of Education held a consultative meeting at the
Ecotech Center in Lahug, Cebu City last Friday on the proposed
amendments to Republic Act 4670, otherwise known as the Magna
Carta for Public School Teachers.
The
city division office led by Dr. Elpidio Jala attended the
activity including yours truly as chairman of the committee
on education of the 10th Sangguniang Panlungsod.
We
agree with the DepEd top honchos from Manila who conducted
the consultation that RA 4670 needs to be re-visited by Congress.
And the proposal should come from the ranks of the teachers
themselves.
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Also
last Friday, Dr. Jesus Estanislao of the Institute for Solidarity
in Asia (ISA) formally invited City Mayor Dan Neri Lim to
join the 6-man Philippine delegation to the 2007 Global Public
Sector Summit in Washington, D.C. next month.
The
invitation is an offshoot to the inclusion of Tagbilaran City
as among the three Public Governance Scorecard (PGS)-Proficient
Cities in the entire country.
We
learned that ISA's PGS is one of the five featured case studies
in this year's summit.
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While
in the US next month, the Philippine delegation will vsit
Charlotte in North Carolina and Austin in Texas after the
summit.
These
two US cities steeped in the Balance Scorecard, according
to Estanislao.
To cut short possible questions about the travel expenses,
we are quoting a portion of Estanislao's letter to the Mayor
Lim: "ISA and the League of Cities are currently negotiating
so that they can jointly underwrite the airfare and hotel
accommodation of the delegates." Amen.
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During
his weekly Mayor's Report yesterday morning, the city mayor
hinted that he may take a leave of absence starting next month
to give Vice Mayor Jose Antonio Veloso an opportunity to be
at the helm of the city government.
As
we see it, the city mayor's leave of absence will also test
how his political detractors, including some sectors in the
local media, react to his absence and compare the leadership
of the acting mayor.
Edgar
Bompat, the topmost ranking city councilor, will also act
as vice-mayor and the number of city councilors will be reduced
to only 11. This is another innovative idea of Mayor Lim considering
that October kicks off the last quarter of the current fiscal
year.
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True
to the administration's campaign promise, the first batch
of free school supplies, uniforms and shoes to pupils of the
public elementary schools in the city will be distributed
starting this week.
Late
last week, we saw thousands of school bags, raincoats and
umbrellas being packed at the city hall in time for the initial
distribution. According to Mark Monton, officer-in-charge
of the general services office, the system of distribution
will be re-engineered unlike in the previous years.
This
will minimize, if not eradicate the possible complaints and
criticisms especially in the distribution of these freebies
to the city's public elementary pupils.
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For
comments and suggestions, just e-mail to the following e-mail
addresses: obiter@boholchronicle.com
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