Muntinlupa City Hall yesterday released an ordinance amending its quarantine rules to include stripping student violators of their scholarships if they’re caught violating curfew and not wearing face masks outdoors amid the stricter enhanced modified community quarantine (MECQ).
City Ordinance 2020-109 and 2020-111 imposes penalties of PHP300 (US$6) on the first offense, PHP500 (US$10) on the second offense and PHP1,000 (US$20) on the third offense for violators of all ages who will be caught outside the allowable 8am to 5pm window hours. On top of the said penalties, the city’s scholars will be given a written warning on their first offense, then a scholarship withdrawal on their second offense.
Eleazar Lumukso, an administrative officer of the city’s scholarship program, told Coconuts Manila in a call today that Muntinlupa has the authority to make the necessary punishments.
“If enforcers report a scholar to us for the violation, we’ll have to concede, because that’s the ordinance,” he said, adding that scholars stand to lose cash allowance from the city.
“For elementary students, we give them PHP400 (US$8) every month for ten months, that’s equivalent to PHP4,000 (US$81) for the whole school year. For junior high school students, it’s a total of PHP5,000 (US$101) and for senior high, it’s PHP6,000 (US$122). College scholars’ allowance brackets differ depending on the school, but the biggest we hand out is around the PHP15,000 (US$305) range, that’s for the entire year, too,” Lumukso said.
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He added that some 60,000 scholars are currently enrolled in the city’s scholarship program, which covers elementary to college students enrolled in both private and public schools, a majority of whom are studying at the Alabang Elementary School per last year’s records.
In another call, public information officer Mark Mata told Coconuts Manila that the stricter measures may be imposed past the two-week MECQ until so advised by the mayor. Mata is unable to say how many students or minors make up the bulk of the city’s violators.
Lumukso, meanwhile said that while some college students and students’ parents have physically submitted their scholarship requirements before the MECQ, dropbox submissions have been suspended following the lockdown reimposition.
Scholars may drop them a line at muntinlupascholarships@gmail.com, call at +63288315971, or message them on their Facebook page for more details.
President Rodrigo Duterte had previously approved the resumption of face-to-face classes in areas that have relatively low COVID-19. However, on his State of the Nation Address, he announced that students will once again have to wait for a vaccine to become available before physical classes resume.
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