The provincial government of Cagayan has belied allegations foreign students in the province are paying their way to a diploma.
In a statement, Governor Manuel Mamba said the allegations of diploma mills in schools in Cagayan are baseless and unfair.
“Sinasabi nilang may diploma mill dito, that is so unfair. Kung magpaalis kayo ng mga Chinese dito na walang basehan baka mamaya paalisin yung mga nasa Hong Kong at Macau na Pilipino. Baka mamaya ihinto yung palitan. I think they are the number one trade market na ngayon. So, all of these things will affect us. Kaya dahan-dahan naman tayo,” Mamba said.
The Committee on Education of the Provincial Board also described the allegation as unfair.
“Medyo unfair ‘yung ganoong allegation, kasi I’m also a part of [an] academic institution. Wala akong alam na may nangyayaring ganun, prestigious naman ang mga universities dito, and I doubt if they would ever ventured to something like that,” Atty. Mila Perpetua Catabay-Lauigan, the committee chairperson, said.
The issue regarding the presence of foreign students in the province is set to be discussed in a session of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.
“If there will be someone [who] will push for the holding of investigation, we would also do that but right now, wala pang nai-refer,” Catabay-Lauigan said.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Region 2 has not issued a statement on the matter in the absence of a formal complaint.
A separate joint statement from private higher education institutions in Cagayan says that St. Paul University Philippines has 486 foreign students enrolled, including Chinese, Indonesians, Japanese, Vietnamese, and American students studying various courses such as nursing, civil engineering, and graduate school.
The Police Regional Office 2 (PRO-2) has said it has not observed any violation committed by the foreign students.
“Nag-conduct na rin ng monitoring, as to this date, wala naman silang violations na nagawa na reported,” PMAJ. Sharon Mallillin, Public Information Officer of PRO-2, said.
