A City Hall official tried to justify the controversial QUEEN Project of Mayor Jesse Robredo which is clearly intended to make parents beholden to him this coming May elections while exposing Naga City teachers to possible electioneering charges.
In a letter to the CRANE editor dated March 9, 2007, Wilfredo Prilles, said to be the project manager of the dubious scheme claimed that the QUEEN Project wherein Robredo volunteered to pay school fees in public schools out of City School Board Fund is the answer of the city government to the problem of many public school enrollees dropping out before finishing elementary. Prilles admitted that in Naga City only 67% are able to complete Grade Six from Grade One enrollees.
It took the city government nearly two decades to realize that, it was observed.
In his rejoinder (see page 7), the PENINSULA MONITOR editor pointed out that the difficulty of pupils finishing even elementary school is a reflection of abject poverty on a large segment of the Naga City populace which Robredo has not solved even with the huge Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of the Naga City government.
He emphasized that only a few people are actually getting rich in Naga City, obviously including Mayor Robredo, but most poor people remain wallowing in misery because of the absence of employment or income opportunities.
Naga City teachers are in danger of being charged for participating in an evidently partisan activity since teachers are compelled by Robredo to make parents sign documents and issue cards to them which are designed to be used as reference for voters this coming election.
PENINSULA MONITOR also questioned the timing of the project at this time when all activities in the government, including the implementation of the projects, that they may influence the results of the election are being banned or suspended.
The QUEEN Project is worse than a palliative, which the alleged project manager described projects of the provincial government which were irrelevant as they were never referred to in the MONITOR story, it was pointed out.
It was another form of deception of the Naga City constituents to which the Naga City government has been habitually doing, it was stressed.
The editor cited as one of many examples the case of Metro Naga Development Council (MNDC) which was never operationalized even while member municipalities around the province yearly contributed to its fund without receiving any benefits in return. Robredo shrewdly used the MNDC as leverage in his dealings with government and non-government agencies, and received awards using the MNDC which never functioned and was in fact deserted by disgusted member municipalities.
