Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. ________ 
Introduced by HON. EDGAR M. CHATTO 
First District, Bohol 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Skills development is a domain with full potential of contributing to the 
improvement of the local economy. With the emergence of the global market of skills, 
equipping the local constituents is, thus, a necessary requirement to meet the demands 
of the domestic and international labor markets. 
It is in this context and for the purpose of developing and enhancing the 
competencies of the local constituents in the First District of the Province of Bohol that 
the establishment of a specialized Training Center, under the direct supervision and 
control of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and 
specifically for the Municipality of Balilihan, Province of Bohol, becomes imperative.  
Bohol caters five (5) TESDA Centers located in the Municipalities of Tubigon in 
the first district, Bilar and Inabanga in the second district, and Pilar and Jagna in the 
third district. Of the three districts, the first district is the only one with a single TESDA 
center. 
While there is a Balilihan TESDA Center in the first district, it is currently 
annexed to the existing Tubigon TESDA Center which is some 45 kilometers away. The 
building for the center has already been provided by the local government unit of 
Balilihan. It is only unfortunate that since its establishment in 2010, it remains an annex 
which shares personnel as well as trainers from the Tubigon TESDA Center.  
Hence, making the Balilihan TESDA Center independent would allow it to 
expand the courses it offers, add classes and improve its facilities and equipment. 
Ultimately, the goal is to serve more learners not only in Balilihan but in adjacent 
municipalities as well. 
In the previous Congress, this legislative measure has passed third reading at the 
House of Representatives but did not see the light of day in the Senate due to to time 
contraints. 
Thus, the support for the immediate passage of this bill is earnestly sought. 
REP. EDGAR M. CHATTO 
March 13, 2023
12:46 pm
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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. ________ 
Introduced by HON. EDGAR M. CHATTO 
First District, Bohol 
“AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A TECHNICAL 
EDUCATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (TESDA) 
TRAINING AND ACSSESSMENT CENTER IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF 
BALILIHAN, PROVINCE OF BOHOL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE 
BALILIHAN, BOHOL TESDA TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT CENTER, 
AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR” 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Balilihan, Bohol 
TESDA Training and Assessment Center Act.” 
SECTION 2. Establishment. – There is hereby established a Technical 
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Training and Assessment Center 
in the Municipality of Balilihan, Province of Bohol, under the supervision of the TESDA, 
to be known as the “Balilihan, Bohol TESDA Training and Assessment Center”. It shall 
be established in a highly accessible location in the Municipality of Balilihan, pursuant 
to the purposes of this Act and to the mutual agreement of the TESDA and the 
concerned local government units (LGUs). 
SECTION 3. General Mandate. – The Balilihan TESDA Training and 
Assessment Center, hereinafter referred to as the Center, shall primarily provide 
technical-vocational education and training (TVET) programs to students, local 
residents fro low-income families, and out-of-school youths, including person with 
disabilities and indigenous people, in the Municipality of Balilihan and neighboring 
municipalities in the Province of Bohol to help them become productive, self-reliant and 
globally competitive labor assets. 
The center shall provide effective employment interventions through training 
programs on relevant skills, trade competencies, craftmanship, and entrepreneurship 
activities needed to deliver the effective employment interventions that will help hasten 
the development of the host area and the adjacent localities in the Province of Bohol into 
human resource and productivity hubs.  
The Center shall also serve as TESDA-accredited Assessment Center for acquired 
competencies in TVET programs in the Municipality of Balilihan and adjacent localities 
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in the Province of Bohol. It shall also provide teacher’s training and curriculum design 
assistance to secondary schools offering the technical-vocational livelihood track under 
the under the K-12 Program in coordination with the Department of Education and the 
TESDA. 
SECTION 4. Training Programs. – The Center shall offer short-term 
certificate courses and modular trainings in preferred technical-vocational skills and 
trades specialization. To this end, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), 
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Science and Technology 
(DOST), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of the Interior and Local 
Government (DILG), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), 
business-industry partners, and other relevant agencies and instrumentalities, both 
local and international, shall provide the necessary assistance to enable the Center to 
develop skilled manpower to achieve a robust and inclusive economy in the host are and 
its adjacent localities. 
The Center may establish research and technology hubs, technology development 
farms, satellite or extension training centers, and promote mobile training programs to 
strengthen linkages among the industry partners, the academe, and the center geared 
towards the acquisition of practical livelihood, employable skills, gainful employment, 
and entrepreneurship in priority areas in the Municipality of Balilihan and neighboring 
localities in the Province of Bohol. 
The Center shall offer the following TVET programs with competencies 
assessment leading to National Certification Levels I-III: 
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
farming. Fishing tools and equipment operation, agribusiness, agri-aqua
trade technology and innovations, and relevant farmers and fisherfolks’
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 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
application procedures, including registration, licensing, documentation,
business patent and intellectual property regulation, 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 skills such as carpentry, masonry, 
plumbing, welding, practical electricity and installation, automotive servicing, 
electronic servicing, personal computer servicing, and such other relevant 
practical skills courses; 
 
f. 
Computer literacy and information technology-related skills, digital 
technology, 
web 
design, 
animation, 
photoshop/online 
photography, 
computer design and advertising; 
 
g. Social communication skills and language proficiency courses in English and 
other languages for business process outsourcing employment and overseas 
job placement; 
 
h. Seminars on personality development, career counselling and job placement, 
and work ethic and values; and 
 
i. 
Other preferred skills and trades training that may be needed by the people of 
the Municipality of Balilihan and the adjacent localities of the Province of 
Bohol to enhance their capabilities for practical livelihood, gainful 
employment, and entrepreneurial activities. 
 
 
SECTION 5. Compliance with TESDA Requirements. - The provisions of 
this Act notwithstanding, the Center shall become operational only upon determination 
and certification by the TESDA, through the issuance of a formal recommendation and 
certificate of compliance, that the Center has satisfactorily complied with the minimum 
standards of quality prescribed by the TESDA governing the following: a) standard 
procedures and guidelines for the establishment and operation of a Center; b) 
operational sustainability of the Center, in terms of licensed faculty-trainers and 
personnel, equipment, training and laboratory facilities, instructional materials, and 
other standard requirements of a Center; c) sustainable funding source and allocation of 
the budgetary requirement; d0 full alignment of the training programs offered with the 
minimum standards of competency-based quality technical-vocational skills technology 
and the needs of the host area and adjacent communities served within the context of 
Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) integration and the Philippine 
Qualifications Framework for TVET; and e0 compliance with such other TESDA 
conditionalities and standards, as may be necessary and applicable in establishing a 
Center. 
 
 
SECTION 6. Administration. – The Center shall be headed by a Technical 
Vocational Administrator who shall be under the supervision of the TESDA, render full-
time service, and who shall be responsible for its administration and operation. 
 
 
The Technical-Vocational Administrator shall be appointed by the TESDA 
Director General in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Civil Service 
Commission and the qualification requirements for such office. 
 
 
The Technical-Vocational Administrator shall enter into agreements with locally-
based private and public counterpart agencies or instrumentalities and persons for such 
assistance as may be necessary to effectively implement this Act., subject to the approval 
of the TESDA Director general. 
 


 
SECTION 7. Appropriations. - The Director General of the TESDA shall 
include in the Authority’s program the operation of the Center, the funding of which 
shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.  
 
 
The LGUs concerned, in consultation with the TESDA, shall set aside from any 
available local revenue an amount deemed appropriate as annual counterpart fund to 
support the operation of the Center herein established. 
 
 
SECTION 8. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within ninety (90) 
days after the approval of this Act, the TESDA shall, in coordination with DOLE, DTI, 
DOST, DA, Department of Budget and Management, DILG, NEDA, concerned LGUs, 
and such other relevant agencies and industry-business partners of the host locality, 
prepare and issue the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation 
of this Act. 
 
 
SECTION 9. Separability Clause. If, for any reason, any part or provision of 
this Act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not 
affected thereby shall remain in full force and effect. 
 
 
SECTION 10. Repealing Clause. All laws, presidential decrees, executive 
orders, memoranda, rules and regulations contrary or inaccurate with the provision of 
this Act are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly. 
 
 
SECTION 11. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general 
circulation. 
 
 
 
 
Approved,