Fresnedi allots 63 Million Pesos for Munti Scholars

The City Government of Muntinlupa exerts its effort to bring back the high quality education in the city as Mayor Jaime Fresnedi allots budget worth 63 Million pesos for the scholars of Muntinlupa.

After the regular flag ceremony on March 17, 2014, Muntinlupa Scholarship Program-OIC Karla Gabriel introduced the students of Muntinlupa who will benefit from the Muntinlupa Scholarship Program.

Out of 340 high school students who took the exam in order to qualify for the college scholarship of MSP, 61 students passed and were qualified to receive a maximum of Php30,000 per semester.

Mayor Fresnedi also congratulates the top 10 Muntinlupa Outstanding Students who qualified in the exam given by the Muntinlupa Scholarhip Program.

This program was made possible by the City Council who passed the Ordinance 13-011, providing for educational financial assistance and other incentives to the scholars of Muntinlupa.

Those students who are under the scholarship program will receive the educational assistance of the City Government once they maintain the grade being required to them.

“We have allotted budget to help our children excel more in their academic works,” said Mayor Fresnedi. The City Government allotted 50 million pesos for the Muntinlupa Scholarship Program which includes elementary, high school and college. 13 million pesos were allotted for the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa scholars.

Also, Fresnedi acted upon the six years overdue accreditation of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa. Before Fresnedi ended his term, it was in process for accreditation. But to his dismay, it was left unturned.

This week, the Association of Local Colleges and Universities/Commision on Accreditation (ALCU-COA) will conduct its accreditation visit to PLMun. “Let us all pray for the success of PLMun’s accreditation, this is for the future education of many Muntinlupeño,” he added.

Muntinlupa creates Muslim affairs office

The Muntinlupa City Government is bringing its services even closer to the people with the creation of an agency catering to the needs of Muntinlupeños coming from the Muslim faith.

Mayor Jaime R. Fresnedi recently signed an Executive Order authorizing the creation of the Muntinlupa City Muslims Affairs Office (MCMAO) with the express purpose of preparing and implementing plans, programs, projects, and activities for the welfare of Muslims in the City.

“This is a landmark measure for us in that we recognize the role of Muslims in the development of Muntinlupa,” Fresnedi said. “It is our goal that this office will empower Muslim Muntinlupeños significantly to become productive citizens of our City.”

The MCMAO is tasked to determine the City’s Muslim population and identify existing associations and organizations so that plans and programs will be implemented effectively. The agency is likewise mandated to encourage these organizations to apply for accreditation with the City Government.

An important role of the MCMAO is helping Muslim residents find jobs and sources of income that will enable them to send their children to school. The said office is also tasked to coordinate with other City Government agencies to promote Muslim traditions and customs while actively looking after their welfare and ensuring peace and order in their communities.

The MCMAO will consist of an Executive Director and two staff personnel. These will be identified and later appointed by Mayor Fresnedi. “It is our hope that through this office, our Muslim brothers and sisters will realize their role and contribute towards making our City stronger,” Fresnedi added.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

Muntinlupa City Mayor Jaime R. Fresnedi showed his support in the 21^st Anniversary of OSCA Muntinlupa on March 13, 2014. The City Government conducted a Health and Wellness Fair in partnership with United Bayanihan Foundation, RiteMed, Skelan, Enervon Prime, Neurogen and Solmux for the Health and Wellness Fair for all the senior citizens of Muntinlupa City.

Ex-Munti Mayor San Pedro slapped with corruption charges

The Muntinlupa City Government has leveled charges of corruption against former mayor Aldrin San Pedro before the Ombudsman for his alleged role in the overpriced sale of a parcel of land during his tenure.

The Ombudsman received and verified the complaint which charges San Pedro for gross violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for his alleged approval of the sale of the Marmeto property in Putatan, Muntinlupa, under questionable circumstances.

“We cannot let this go unpunished, because such abuse of power only shows a lack of accountability to the people of Muntinlupa,” Mayro Jaime R. Fresnedi said in support of the complaint, which was filed through Atty. Genesi Santiago of the City Legal Office. “We pray that justice will be given to the City Government and for all Muntinlupeños.”

The property in question, owned by Mr. Emiliano Marmeto, is adjacent to a parcel of land owned by the City Government on which is situated the Medium-Rise Housing (MRH) project. On March 20, 2000, Mayor Fresnedi, in his first term, was authorized by the City Council to enter into a Conditional Deed of Exchange in which the City Government will swap ownership of certain portions of the adjoining properties with Mr. Marmeto in order to create a road-right-of-way (RROW) to the MRH as well as to the Marmeto property.

However, on January 9, 2012, then-Mayor San Pedro signed a Conditional Sale of Right of Way to the Marmeto property despite lacking the authorization of the City Council. Council records contain no such written authorization granting San Pedro to enter into a contract with the Marmeto family on behalf of the City Government. This glaring omission is evident on the said contract itself, as the required resolution or ordinance number is left blank.

Moreover, the new contract obligated the City Government to pay the Marmeto family the whopping sum of Php6,402,200, including damages incurred due to delays, despite the parcels of land for the RROW having a fair market value of only Php1,130,778. It was further found out that the valuation of Php6.4million was not backed up by any appraisal report from the City Assessor’s Office.

The complaint filed before the Ombudsman also noted that the two contracts were very similar, except for the terms of sale which left the City Government at a gross disadvantage. Moreover, San Pedro was actually a signatory of the original contract, back when he was still a councilor, which indicates his knowledge of the original agreement between the City Government and the Marmeto family and contradicts any denial by San Pedro of the said contract.

Another questionable provision in the contract signed by San Pedro is the identification of Biñan, Laguna, as the place of action, which does not have any significance to the parties and the transaction involved.

In view of these facts, the City Government is asking the Ombudsman to charge and investigate San Pedro for entering into a contract grossly disadvantageous to the City Government and for abuse of his mandate. “The people of Muntinlupa deserve justice and it is only right that the City Government be compensated rightfully in order to return to the people what is rightfully theirs,” Fresnedi added.

P3.7 BILLION ALLOCATED BY MUNTI FOR VARIOUS SERVICES IN 2014

THE bottom-up and performance based planning and budgeting resulted to the passage of some P3.7 billion budget by the Muntinlupa City council which was certified as urgent by Muntinlupa City Mayor Jaime R. Fresnedi.

In his recent State of the City Address (SOCA), Mayor Fresnedi disclosed the allocation of the budget for the rest of the year is 11.9 percent higher compared to the 2013 budget.

The bulk of the budget for the year 2014 will be allotted to the Social Services Sector amounting to P1.82 billion which include the programs for education and health services.

Fresnedi said the breakdown for the education sector will be P320 million to the Special Education Fund (SEF) or the School Board, P105 million for Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa, P24 million to Day Care Centers, P15 million for Youth Affairs that include assistance to the athletes, and P21 million for TESDA-MCTI.

Some P63 million was allotted to scholarships and education assistance which was broken to P50 million for the Muntinlupa Scholarship Program and P13 million for the Iskolar ng Bayan.

Fresnedi said the bigger allocation for the educational sector is mainly part and parcel of the overall plan of his administration to give premium on education and the youth as a whole.

He disclosed the allocation for education and youth sector is triple compared to the measly P21.5 million budget when he assumed office in 2010.

Part of the educational program under the administration of Mayor Fresnedi is the P300 per month given as allowance to deserving elementary students numbering 1,470 and P400 for high school which is about 525.

In college, Fresnedi said scholars of the city government are given P30,000 per semester and some 40 students are being given an assistance of P3,000 to P5,000 to 40 students in every barangay.

This is aside from the millions of pesos that has been allotted by the city government for health services, livelihood and employment, peace and order, socialized housing and other infrastructure programs aimed at uplifting the lives of every Muntinlupenos.

Human Flag in Munti, Waves to Guinness

Muntinlupa City’s attempt to outbreak the Guinness World Record of the most number of reading partners in the world, as 19,500 pairs of elementary and high school students with their parents walks to Kilometer 50 of Filinvest City Alabang today in celebration of the 19^th Cityhood anniversary of Muntinlupa.

As early as 3:30a.m, all lead to the road of breaking the record of Taiwan with 3,682 adults and 4,047 children reading all together. Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime R. Fresnedi and Former Bureau of Customs Ruffy Biazon joined as the school children prepare for the big leap to Guinness.

The Department of Education officials led by Undersecretary Mario Deriquito for Partnership and External Linkages-DECS, Ms. Melencia Alma Orencia (President-Reading Association of the Philippines), Dr. Ramon Bacani (Center Director-SEAMEO INNOTECH), and Atty. Tomasito Umali (DECS-Legal Affairs) witnessed the successful attempt to Guiness.

“Reading is very important to anybody especially when signing any document,” Mayor Fresnedi said. He encouraged everyone to make reading a habit because this is very important in achieving your goals.

His statement was even supported by Usec. Deriquito as he said, “ Muntinlupa made a historical leap, on three points- importance of reading as a tool to seek knowledge (susi  at kasangkapan sa karunungan), unity as in 7 minutes Muntinlupa was able to move altogether as one, and patriotism as they form the human flag with love for the country, he congratulates the DepEd and the support of Mayor Fresnedi, and Former BOC Biazon to show the world that the Philippines is the country of readers.

Just as Michael Martinez, also a Muntinlupeno marks a historical niche in the Sochi Olympics 2014 as the only and First Filipino to land in the 19^th post in the recent Olympics considering that he comes from a tropical country. Fresnedi is so grateful with the pride of the city.

As he deliver his 19^th Cityhood state of the city address, he inaugurated  85 motorcycles, 6 trucks and 6 ambulances for the service of his people.

For the students of Muntinlupa National High School, a Groundbreaking Ceremony was held with Former Comm. Ruffy Biazon. The city also conducted a Medical Mission with free medicines from mercury drugstores at the Mega Jobsfair at SM Tunasan.

The ten most outstanding tax payers will be awarded tonight, with Senate President Franklin Drilon. Theres no way but up for Muntinlupa, Moving up to success. Aiming high for a better and livable city.