COLLEGE students from EMBO barangays can avail of the scholarship assistance given by the city government of Taguig to its residents and get as much as P15,000 to P50,000 every year in educational aid.
“Nais ipaabot ng lungsod ng Taguig sa mga residente ng EMBO na wala silang dapat ikabahala sa magiging epekto ng hakbang na ito ng Makati. Bago pa man ang anunsyo ng Makati, gumawa na ng mga hakbang ang Taguig hindi lamang upang maipagpatuloy ang edukasyon ng mga residente ng EMBO kundi maiangat ang kanilang mga benepisyo (The city government of Taguig would like to inform residents of the EMBO barangays that they have nothing to be concerned about the decision of Makati. Even before the announcement was made, Taguig has already implemented measures to ensure that EMBO residents will be able to continue their education and upgrade their benefits),” Taguig City.
“Nagbigay na ng tagubilin si Mayor Lani Cayetano sa City Scholarship Office na subaybayan at gabayan ang mga estudyante ng EMBO na gustong ipagpatuloy ang kanilang pag-aaral sa UMak (University of Makati) (Mayor Lani Cayetano has already ordered the City Scholarship Office to guide and assist EMBO students who want to pursue their studies at UMak),” it added.
The UMak Office of the Student Regent has earlier announced that starting the academic year 2024-25, all EMBO barangay students will be classified as non-Makati residents and will be required to pay P3,000 in tuition fees, in addition to miscellaneous fees.
UMak is owned and operated by the city government of Makati. It offers students who are residents of the city with free higher education.
UMak’s move came amid the continuing territorial dispute between Makati and Taguig cities, even after the Supreme Court affirmed with finality last September 28, 2022 its December 1, 2021 ruling declaring that the 10 EMBO barangays in Makati are part of the territory of Taguig City.
Taguig assured EMBO students they will have equal access to quality education from elementary up to college, similarly to the privileges currently being enjoyed by Taguig city scholars.
“Bilang Taguig college scholars, makatatanggap kayo ng P15,000 hanggang P50,000 kada taon na maaari ninyong ibayad sa eskwelahang pinili ninyo (As Taguig college scholars, you will receive from P15, 000 to as much as P50, 000 every year in financial assistance that you can use to pay in your preferred schools),” Taguig said.
Taguig said that for the first semester of the current academic year, more than 5,000 students who are residents of the EMBO barangays have already availed of the city’s scholarship program.
Taguig said students who have existing scholarships and assistance from other agencies and institutions will still receive the scholarship benefits from the city government.
It said that around 83,000 Taguig scholars are currently enrolled in more than 200 colleges and universities in Metro Manila, including the University of the Philippines, De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University, and the University of Santo Tomas.
It added that under the program, 1,815 have graduated with honors, while 3, 506 passed their respective board examinations, of whom 45 belonged to the Top 10 in their licensure exams.
Meanwhile, Makati mayor Abigail Binay yesterday called on Cayetano to urge the Taguig’s district representatives to file an urgent bill proposing the creation of additional courts in the city so as not to unduly burden the seven Makati courts which have been temporarily designated by the Supreme Court as assisting courts to handle cases in the EMBO barangays.
“Mayor Lani Cayetano should already get the ball rolling and urge Taguig lawmakers to file an urgent bill proposing the creation of additional courts that will absorb the additional case load resulting from the transfer of 10 EMBO barangays to Taguig,” Binay said, as she reminded Cayetano that the SC move was only intended as a temporary solution to aid in the transition of judicial jurisdiction from Makati to Taguig.
“Albeit temporary, the arrangement poses inconvenience to Taguig litigants and causes undue imposition on Makati and its taxpayers. We will be shouldering the costs of operations and bearing the impact of increased number of visitors on city hall’s operations,” Binay added.
Binay said Taguig has the funds required for the construction of courtrooms to handle the additional courts.
Binay also called on Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano to do his part in the creation of additional courts in his city as she pointed out that he even thanked the SC for “acting very judiciously” in transferring judicial jurisdiction to Taguig effective January 1 2024 in a recent Facebook live post.
“The senator from Taguig seems to be oblivious to the adverse implications of not having enough courts in Taguig to handle the case load generated from the EMBO barangays,” Binay said as she noted that the designated assisting courts in Makati will be doubly burdened because they will not only bear heavier case load, but also more paperwork owing to the new guidelines.
“As such, it is incumbent upon the mayor of Taguig to see to it that their House representatives, her husband and her sister-in-law in the Senate, will take urgent action by filing a bill creating additional courts and actively pushing for its enactment,” she added.
The Taguig city government has yet to comment on Binay’s call.
