EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
Second Regular Session
SENATE
^CiUlU 
of ll;r &i.'crrMr;’
21 JAN 12 PI 52
Introduced by SENATOR JOEL VILLANUEVA
AN ACT CONVERTING THE BALICUATRO COLLEGE OF ARTS AND 
TRADES IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF ALLEN, PROVINCE OF 
NORTHERN SAMAR, INTO THE NORTHERN SAMAR POLYTECHNIC 
INSTITUTE, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR
EXPLANATORY NOTE
On February 23,1995, Republic Act No. 7915 was enacted into law converting 
the Balicuatro National Vocational School located in the municipality of Allen, province 
of Northern Samar into the Balicuatro College of Arts and Trades. Situated in Northern 
Samar, Balicuatro consists of the mainland municipalities of Allen, Lavezares, San 
Isidro and Victoria and the island towns of San Antonio, Capul and San Vicente.
The Balicuatro College of Arts and Trades (BCAT) offers post-secondary non­
degree programs and technical education and skills development courses. Currently, 
BCAT is considered as one of TESDA’s prime Centers of Excellence (CENTEX), 
offering higher level qualifications with its Diploma Program Offerings. BCAT also 
offers thirty-two (32) TVET programs catering to the residents of Northern Samar.
This bill seeks to convert the Balicuatro College of Arts and Trades into the 
Northern Samar Polytechnic Institute, after having substantially compiled with all the 
criteria for the conversion of a school into a Polytechnic Institute. This change in 
classification will greatly benefit the community insofar as it will help strengthen the 
capabilities of the people in the area, and further broadening their knowledge and 
technical know-how. 
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In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of this bill is earnestly sought.
SENATOR ^pEL VILLANUEVA


EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
Second Regular Session
ft tl;e Sii'-crcfar^
21 JAN 12 PI 52
SENATE
Introduced by SENATOR JOEL VILLANUEVA
AN ACT CONVERTING THE BALICUATRO COLLEGE OF ARTS AND 
TRADES IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF ALLEN, PROVINCE OF 
NORTHERN SAMAR, INTO THE NORTHERN SAMAR POLYTECHNIC 
INSTITUTE, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Phiiippines in 
Congress assembied:
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SECTION. 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Northern Samar 
Polytechnic Institute (NSPI) Act."
SEC. 2. Conversion. - The Balicuatro College of Arts and Trades in the Municipality 
of Allen, Province of Northern Samar, is hereby converted into a polytechnic institute, 
to be known as the Northern Samar Polytechnic Institute (NSPI), hereinafter referred 
to as the Institute, under the supervision and administration of the Technical Education 
and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). It shall be established in a highly 
accessible location in the Municipality of Allen, Province of Northern Samar, pursuant 
to the purposes of this Act, and to the mutual agreement of the TESDA and the 
concerned local government unit (LGU).
SEC. 3. General Mandate. - In line with the adoption of the Philippine Qualifications 
Framework (PQF) and the Senior High School Program of the Department of 
Education (DepEd), the Institute shall endeavor to restructure its technical-vocational 
education and training (TVET) programs to make them responsive to the rapidly 
changing demands of the industry and the labor market in both the domestic and global 
fronts, and within the context of the mutual recognition arrangements embodied in the 
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic integration framework and 
other relevant international agreements for technical-vocational education.


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The Institute shall endeavor to offer higher level competency qualifications in TVET 
programs and shall continue to upgrade its curricular standards as a TESDA 
polytechnic educational institution that caters to wide-ranging specialized technical, 
creative and conceptual knowledge and skills demonstrating depth and complexity in 
the planning, evaluation, initiation and management of approaches to competency 
compliant technical skills and functional knowledge appreciation.
The Institute shali offer a wide array of one (1)-year to three (3)-year TESDA- 
registered TVET programs and certificate courses, and shall aim to meet the 
competency requirements under Level V of the PQF, which is the Diploma Level in 
TVET. It shall primarily provide undergraduate technical-vocational education, and 
shall likewise ensure the provision of various skills training and trade specialization 
courses relevant to the needs of the province, specifically geared towards the 
acquisition of employable skills, gainful employment, practical livelihood and 
entrepreneurship.
The Institute shall play a lead role in helping students and out-of-school youth and 
residents from low-income families and persons with disabilities in the Municipality of 
Allen and adjacent municipalities in the Province of Northern Samar become 
productive and self-reliant, and to become part of a globally competitive middle to high- 
level skilled labor force to hasten the social and economic development of the Province 
of Northern Samar, in particular, as well as meet the manpower needs of both local 
and international labor markets, in general.
The Institute shall consider in the design of relevant TVET training programs and 
course offering a competency assessment of the socioeconomic profile, employment 
conditions and opportunities, business climate, market and industry potentials, 
available resources and presence of support structures, including the literacy level and 
skills readiness, and the overall development needs of the host area, and adjacent 
communities within the operational status of the Institute. It shall likewise consider the 
relevant skills and trade competencies, craftmanship training programs and 
entrepreneurship activities needed to deliver the effective employment and 
development interventions required to make Alien and all localities comprising the 
Province of Northern Samar human resource and economic productivity hubs.
The Institute shall also serve as a TESDA-accredited Assessment Center for acquired 
competencies in technical-vocational skills in the entire province of Northern Samar.
Priority admission to the Institute, including scholarships, grants-in-aid and student 
financial assistance, however, shall be given to the most disadvantaged citizens of the 
Municipality of Allen and to the most economically depressed areas In the province.
Further, as deemed necessary and practicable, in coordination with the DepEd and 
the TESDA, the Institute shall render relevant teachers’ training assistance and 
curriculum design offering the technical-vocational livelihood (TVL) track under the 
DepEd and TESDA in the communities and areas within the operational radius of the 
Institute.


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SEC. 4. Curricular Offering/Training Programs. - The Institute shall offer one (1 )- 
year to three (3)-year diploma courses and undergraduate certificate, including short­
term courses and modular trainings in diverse reievant technicai-vocational and 
industriai technology education to comply with employment standards in preferred 
market-driven labor opportunities. However, it shall give premium efforts to skills 
specialization for local market employment requirements geared towards achieving 
the development needs for a robust inclusive economy of the Municipality of Allen and 
the other municipalities in the Province of Northern Samar, in coordination with the 
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Department of Trade and Industry 
(DTI), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the National 
Economic and Development Authority, business-industry partners, and such other 
relevant agencies and stakeholders.
The Institute may establish research and technology hubs, mobile training programs, 
and satellite or extension training centers in priority areas throughout the Province of 
Northern Samar to strengthen linkages among industry, the academe, and the 
technology programs of the Institute. It shall likewise adopt the use of innovative 
training modes such as information technology-assisted instruction, dual learning 
system, open distance learning, community laboratory, and such other instructional 
programs to afford the community greater access to TVET and other skills training 
programs.
The Institute shall offer TESDA-registered TVET courses and short-term training 
programs. Course completion in these programs shall be credited through skills 
competency assessment under National Certification (NC) Levels I to V, as applicable, 
and shall further qualify for academic recognition under the Ladderized Interface 
System for tertiary education, if compliant with the requirements under the said 
program.
The Institute shall offer skills development options for higher competency qualifications 
in technical-industrial education, trade technology, tourism, agricultural technology, 
business literacy, and innovation in TESDA-registered skills courses as follows:
(a) 
Skills training in industrial technology and hard trades such as metal and 
steelwork, machine fabrication and operation, heavy equipment operation, 
automotive mechanical assembly, refrigeration and air conditioning, electronics, 
and operation of power tools and equipment for both medium skills grade and 
industrial purposes;
(b) 
Agriculture and aquaculture-related trainings and skills development in such 
areas as farming technology, fishing operations technology, backyard farming 
and home-based aquaculture and propagation innovations, mechanized farm 
tools and equipment operation, agribusiness and agri-aqua trade technology and 
innovations, and relevant farmers and fisherfolk’s trainings for increased 
productivity and entrepreneurship;
(c) 
Livelihood skills development courses for preferred skills employment and small- 
scale entrepreneurship, including practical skills education in arts and crafts, 
workmanship and design, high-speed sewing, dressmaking and tailoring, 
horticulture, livestock raising and breeding, food processing technology, home


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technology, culinary arts and commercial cooking, cosmetology, and health and 
wellness training:
(d) 
Basic business literacy training in financial management, marketing, practical 
accountancy, bookkeeping, office procedures, business processes and 
appiication procedures, including registration, licensing, documentation, 
business patent and inteliectual property reguiation, business financing and 
investment opportunities sourcing, import-export accreditation, online home- 
based business operation, and use of social media business marketing:
(e) 
Technical-vocational occupation and trades skilis such as carpentry, masonry, 
piumbing, welding, practical electricity and instaliation, automotive servicing, 
electronics servicing, personai computer servicing, and such other relevant 
practical skills courses:
(f) 
Computer literacy and information technology-related skills, digital technology, 
web design, animation, photoshop/oniine photography computer design, and 
advertising:
(g) 
Social communication skills development and language proficiency courses in 
English and other languages for business process outsourcing employment and 
overseas job placement:
(h) 
Seminars on personaiity development, career counselling and job piacement, 
and work ethic and values: and
(i) 
Other preferred priority skiiis that may be needed by the people of Allen and 
relevant to the needs of the other service areas in the Province of Northern 
Samar to enhance their capacities for practical livelihood, gainful employment 
and entrepreneurship skilis.
SEC. 5. Compliance with TESDA Requirements - The provisions of this Act 
notwithstanding, the conversion of the Balicuatro College of Arts and Trades into the 
Northern Samar Polytechnic Institute shaii become operationaiiy effective only upon 
the determination and declaration of the TESDA through the issuance of a formal 
recommendation and Certificate of Compliance that the Institute has satisfactorily 
complied with the minimum requirements for standards of quality prescribed by 
TESDA governing the foiiowing:
(a) 
Standard procedures and guidelines for the establishment, or conversion and 
operation of a polytechnic institute:
(b) 
Operational sustainability of the Institute in terms of licensed faculty/trainers and 
personnel, equipment, training and laboratory facilities, instructional materials, 
and other standard requirements as an Institute:
(c) 
Sustainable funding source and allocation of budget requirement of the Institute:
(d) 
Full alignment of the training programs offered with the minimum standards of 
competency-based quality technical-vocational skills technology and needs of


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the host municipality, Allen, and adjacent areas served within the context of the 
PQF and ASEAN framework for technical-vocational education; and
(e) Compliance with such other TESDA conditionalities as may be necessary and 
applicable in its conversion into the Northern Samar Polytechnic Institute.
SEC. 6. Administration. - The Institute shall be headed by a School Superintendent 
under the supervision of the TESDA. The School Superintendent shall be appointed 
by the TESDA Director General in accordance with the rules and regulations of the 
Civil Service Commission and the qualification requirements and standards for such 
office.
The School Superintendent shall render full-time service and be responsible for the 
administration and operation of the Institute.
The academic and administrative staff of the Institute shall be organized according to 
the staffing pattern prescribed by the TESDA for such type of schools pursuant to 
existing law, rules and regulations.
SEC. 7. Assets, Liabilities and Personnel. - All assets, fixed and movable, 
personnel, records and documents of the Balicuatro College of Arts and Trades, as 
well as liabilities or obligations, shall be transferred to the Institute: Provided, That the 
positions, rights and security of tenure of faculty and personnel therein employed 
pursuant to existing laws prior to its conversion into the Institute shall not be impaired.
All parcels of land belonging to the government occupied by the Balicuatro College of 
Arts and Trades are hereby declared property of the Northern Samar Polytechnic 
Institute and shall be titled under that name: Provided, That, should the Institute cease 
to exist or such aforementioned parcels of land be no longer needed by the Institute, 
the same shall revert to the LGU concerned, or to the Municipality of Allen, Province 
of Norther Samar.
SEC. 8. Appropriations. - The amount needed for the initial implementation of this 
Act shall be charged against the current year’s appropriations of the Balicuatro College 
of Arts and Trades. Thereafter, such amount as may be necessary for the continued 
operation of the Northern Samar Polytechnic Institute shall be included in the annual 
General Appropriations Act.
SEC. 9. implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within ninety (90) days after the 
approval of this Act, the TESDA, in coordination with the DOLE, DTI, Department of 
Budget and Management, DILG, the concerned LGUs, and such other relevant 
agencies and industry-business partners of the host locality, shall prepare and issue 
the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this Act.
SEC. 10. Separability Clause. - If for any reason, any section of this Act shall be 
deemed unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions hereof shall not be 
affected and shall remain in force and in effect.


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SEC. 11. Repealing Clause. - All laws, executive orders, decrees, instructions, rules 
and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with any provision of this Act are repealed 
or amended accordingly.
SEC. 12. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication 
in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
Approved,