SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES

Second Regular Session \
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

House Bill No. _5 493

Introduced by

PRESENTATIVE ROMAN T, ROMULO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The implementation of Republic Act 10533 or the “Enhanced Basic Education Act
of 2013”, which is also known as the K to 12 Law, will come in full swing in School Year
2016-2017. The law will add two (2) more years to the present high school system so that
the total number of years spent for basic education will be twelve (12) years, This will make
the Philippines at par with almost all countries of the world in terms of the number of years
devoted to basic education

However, the impending implementation of the K to 12 Law has brought to the fore
serious concerns regarding the fate of college faculty and non-teaching personnel of higher
education institutions (IIs). If these concerns were not properly attended to by the
government, the worst case scenario would be a grim unemployment status for more than
70,000 college faculty and non-teaching personnel who will stand to lose their jobs because
of the lack of first year college and second year college enrollees during the transition period
starting 2016,

To mitigate the adverse impact of the K to 12 Law on affected college faculty and
non-teaching personnel, including the contractual and temporary teaching personnel of
HEls, it is proposed that a tertiary education transition fund (TETF) be made available by
the government to provide the much needed financial assistance to personnel of HEIs who
will be displaced by the implementation the K to 12 Law. This is on top of the separation
packages and other benefits that the displaced workers are entitled to receive under the
Labor Code of the Philippines.

The TETF is just one of the recommended solutions to the problems confronting the
affected college personnel. This may not be the be-all and end-all solution to the nagging
concerns brought about by the implementation of the K to 12 Law, Nevertheless, this bill is
being proposed in the hope that the availability of such fund will somehow ease the pain and
burden of college personnel who will be affected by the K to 12 Law while the government
is still looking for more palatable and permanent solutions to the issues.

In view of the foregoing, passage of this bill is earnestly requested.

Be ee

ROMAN T. ROMULO


EENTH CONGRESS
S OF THE PHILIPPINES.
‘ond Regular Session

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIV!

5493

House Bill No.

Introduced by REPRI (TATIVE ROMAN T. ROMULO

[ABLISHING THE TERTIARY EDUCATION TRANSITION FUND TO
DEVELOP AND SUSTAIN TERTIARY EDUCATION IN! UTIONS DURING
THE TRANSITION PERIOD OF THE ENHANCED BASIC EDUCATION ACT OF
2013, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1
Fund or the

short Title, - This Act shall be known as the “Tertiary Education Transition
Act of 2015.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. ~ The State shall protec
citizens to affordable quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to ensure
that education shall be accessible to all. The State further recognizes the role of education in
securing the future of the youth and in the development of our nation, Article XIV, Section 2
(1) of the 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that the State shall establish, maintain, and
support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the
people and society. Therefore, pursuant to the foregoing and in view of impact of the
implementation of the Republic Act 10533, otherwise known as the “Enhanced Basic
Education Act of 2013”, the State shall endeavor to support affected higher education
institutions, invest in the human capital of its tertiary education workforce, and ensure its
viability and sustainability

foster and promote the right of all

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms, ~The terms used in this Act are defined as follows:

(a) Transition period refers to the period starting September 2013 to the end of School
Year 2021-22, as defined in the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 10533
or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013:

(b) Personnel refers to a person, singly or collectively, working in higher education
institutions, as defined in the Manual of Regulations for Private Higher Education
(MORPHE) or in technical-vocational schools as maybe defined under existing rules
and regulations of the Technical Skills and Development Authority (TESDA):

a, Academic Personnel — refers to those who are formally engaged in actual
teaching or in research assignments, either on full-time or part-time basis

i. Full-time faculty or academic personnel — refers to one who meets all the
following requirements:

1. Possesses at least the minimum academic qualifications prescribed
under the MORPHE for all academic personnel without prejudice to
the full-time status acquired prior to the issuance of the Department of

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(c)

(d)

(e)

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(g)

Labor and Employment (DOLE)-Department of Education, Culture
and Sports (DECS) -Commission on Higher Education (CHED)-
TESDA Order No. 1, dated February 7, 1996;

2. Paid monthly or hourly, based on the regular teaching loads as.
provided for in the policies, rules and standards of CHED and the
higher education institution (HEI);

3. Devotes not less than eight (8) hours of work a day to the HEI;

4, Has no other remunerative occupation elsewhere requiring regular
hours of work, except when permitted by the HEI; and

5, Is not teaching full-time in any other HEL

ii, Part time faculty or academic personnel ~ refers to faculty or academic
personnel who do not meet the qualifications for full-time faculty or
academic personnel.

b, Academic Support Personnel — refers to those who perform certain prescribed
academic functions directly supportive of teaching, such as registrars,
librarians, guidance counsellors, researchers, and other persons performing
similar functions including institution officials responsible for academic
matters and affai

c. Non-Academic Personnel ~ refers to the rank-and-file employees of the
institution engaged in administrative functions and maintenance.

Regular employees ~ refers to employees engaged to perform activities which are
usually necessary or desirable in the usual business or trade of the employer, except
where the employment has been fixed for a specific project or undertaking the
completion or termination of which has been determined at the time of the
engagement of the employee or where the work or service to be performed is
seasonal in nature and the employment is for the duration of the season.

Casual employees ~ refers to employees not covered by the preceding paragraph:
Provided, That any employee who has rendered at least one year of service, whether
such service is continuous or broken, shall be considered a regular employee with
respect to the activity in which he is employed and his employment shall continue
while such activity exists.

Probationary employees — refers to employees engaged in a period not exceeding six
(6) months from the date the employee started working, unless it is covered by an
apprenticeship agreement stipulating a longer period. ‘The services of an employee
who has been engaged on a probationary basis may be terminated for a just cause or
when he fails to qualify as a regular employee in accordance with reasonable
standards made known by the employer to the employee at the time of his
engagement. An employee who is allowed to work alter a probationary period shall
be considered a regular employee.

Retrenchment refers to the reduction of personnel for the purpose of cutting down
on costs of operations in terms of salaries and wages reported by an employer
because of perceived losses in the operation of a business;

Displacement refers to the laying off of employees due to retrenchment, end of
probationary period, or expiration of the contract of employment;


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(h) Enhanced Basic Education Program refers to at least one (1) year of kindergarten
education, six (6) years of elementary education, and six (6) years of secondary
education, in that sequence, Where, secondary education refers to the compulsory
four (4) years of junior high school education and two (2) years of senior high school
(SHS) education:

(i) Higher education refers to the higher learning level after high school offering
baccalaureate, graduate or post-graduate programs;

(j) Higher education degree programs refer to specific courses of study in the higher
level of the education system leading to a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree;

(k) Higher education institution (HEI) refers to an educational institution, private or
public, undertaking operations of higher education programs with an organized
group of students pursuing defined studies in higher education, receiving instructions
from teachers, usually located in a building or group of buildings in a particular site
specifically intended for educational purposes;

(\) Post-secondary school refers to an institution that offers non-degree technical-
vocational programs, which require the possession of a high school diploma for
admission, and which are accredited by TESDA;

(m) Technical-vocational programs refer to post-secondary certificate courses, officially
recognized as non-degree programs aimed at_preparing technicians,
paraprofessionals and other categories of middle-level workers by providing them
with a broad range of general education, theoretical, scientific and technological
studies, and related job skills training; and

(n) Tertiary education refers to post-secondary technical/vocational education and
training as well as higher education programs.
SEC. 4, Tertiary Education Transition Fund, ~ The Tertiary Education Transition Fund

(TETE) is hereby established to provide support to academic personnel, academic support
personnel, non-academic personnel, as well as tertiary education institutions, which will be
affected by the initial implementation of SHS, It shall be used specifically for the following,
purposes

(1) To provide academic personnel, academic support personnel, and non-academic
personnel affected by the initial implementation of SHS, with opportunities to
pursue graduate studies, conduct research, and/or update their practice. This
includes provisions to attract new faculty to the higher education sector through
incentives, scholarships and other similar benefits;

(2) To invest in the development of innovative curricula, education and training,
systems, and processes aligned to the Enhanced Basic Education Program, and
global best practices at the tertiary education level;

(3) To provide financial assistance to academic, academic support and non-
academic personnel who will be retrenched or displaced from employment due
to the multi-year low enrolment during said transition; and

(4) To provide financial augmentation to academic, academic support and non-
academic personnel who may not have been retrenched or displaced from
employment, but whose salary or wage is reduced due to the multi-year low
enrolment during said transition.


The above shall be made available from June 2016, the commencement of full-scale
implementation of SHS in the country, until School Year 2021-22, the completion of the

transition period of RA 10533.

SEC. 5. Grants for Academic and Academic Support Personnel. ~ A portion of the TET
hall be set apart for current and incoming academic and academic support personnel, for
individual capacity building such as, but not limited to the following

(a) Scholarships for Graduate Studies
(b) Research Grants
(c) Practice Fellowships

Recipients of said grants shall execute a service contract in which they:

(a) Agree to teach as their return of service (ROS);

(b) Agree to any of the approved ROS conditions; and

(c) Agree to repay the amounts disbursed plus interest pursuant to the terms of
their service contract.

Failure to comply with the terms of the service contract will result in the full
repayment (plus penalties, if applicable) of all award monies received within a specified
time limit.

Iso be set

raduate studies or further

evant to their work, Availment of said grant shall similarly be accompanied by a
3).

SEC. 6. Grants for Non-Academic Personnel. — A portion of the TETF shall a
apart for the development of non-academic personnel, through
taining

service contract that includes a provision for return of service (RO

C. 7. Development of Innovative Curricula, Training and Systems. ~ A portion of the
TETF shall also be set apart for the development of tertiary education institutions, public
and private, through the provision of resources to enable innovations in curricula, education
and training, systems, and processes. Said fund can be used for, but not limited to

(a) Initiatives for twinning between a local program or institution with a proven track
record of competence, as to be formulated by CHED, with a foreign program or
institution that is recognized for its expertise in the relevant disciplines;

(b) Benchmarking and articulation activities among locally organized universities and
colleges, whether for academic or non-academic purposes;

(c) Review and reform of existing policies, among them faculty loading, tuition, faculty
development, research and extension, internationalization, among others, in view of
enabling HEIs to improve quality of education and service; and

(d) Development of new or existing graduate education programs as well as niche
programs within the context of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN).

SEC. 8. Financial Support to Academic, Academic Support, Non-Academic Personnel
and Tertiary Education Institutions.

(a) Personnel who are retrenched or displaced during the transition period of RA 10533
shall be provided with financial assistance, the amount and requirements for
availment shall be determined by the DOLE, together with CHED. The availment of
assistance under this provision is without prejudice to other assistance from the
government. Further, said assistance shall be separate and distinct from the
separation pay due to a retrenched employee under the Labor Code, as amended


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Provided, That for contractual personnel, he or she must have served an equivalent
of at least three (3) years full-time service to the institution, to qualify.

(b) Private Tertiary Education Institutions which incur costs as a result of foregone
enrollments during the transition period, as well as displacement thru redundancy or
retrenchment of affected personnel, may avail of financial support, as necessary to
ensure sustainability of their institution

Provided, That they meet the criteria to be set by the CHED and TESDA, Provided
Further, That no amount of the Fund shall be used to pay any HEI which has an
outstanding obligation to the Government without said obligation being settled or
offset first, subject to the requirements provided for by law: Provided Finally, That
the affected HEI has no other adequate source of funds

(c) State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) shall receive, through their annual allocation
in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) the necessary funding required to fulfil
financial obligations to personnel and to continue operations.

However, the CHED and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), shall
develop a separate financing policy framework to govern funding and operations of
SUCs during said period of transition. SUCs nonetheless shall have equal access to
the services and support provided for in this Act

SEC. 9. Other Forms of Support.

(a) Assistance to Affected Tertiary Education Institutions — Further assistance should
be provided to affected tertiary education institutions through the Expanded
Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (E .
as well as through the facilitation of possible loan assistance from the Development
Bank of the Philippines (DBP), the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), and
Veterans Bank.

(b) Assistance to Academic, Academic Support and Non-Academic Personnel ~ Other
forms of support, such as wage employment, retraining and retooling, livelihood or
entrepreneurship programs, as well as other forms of welfare assistance, must
similarly be provided,

10. Fund Application and Dispensation. - Application of the Fund shall be subject to
guidelines, rules and regulations, which shall be formulated and promulgated by the CHED,
with DOLE, Department of Education (DepEd) and TESDA to catty out provisions of this,
Act.

SEC. 11, Implementing Arrangements and Operational Structures. - The CHED shall be
the main implementing agency and thus shall be tasked to coordinate closely with the
DepEd, DOLE and TESDA, in the fulfillment of the goals of this Act, from June 2016 to the
end of School Year 2021-22. The responsibilities of the agencies include, but are not limited
to the following:

(a) CHED — As the main implementing agency, the CHED is hereby tasked to form
and lead the Interageney Secretariat, with personnel seconded from relevant offices
within the Commission, as well as from DepEd, DOLE and TESDA, in order to
coordinate, streamline, and monitor, the various support and other services that
shall be made available to academic, academic support and non-academic
personnel and tertiary education institutions, during the tran



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(b) DepEd ~ The DepEd is hereby tasked to facilitate and ensure the job placement
and hiring of retrenched faculty and staff from affected higher education
institutions: Provided, That they meet the criteria set by the Department, consistent
with the provisions of RA 10533, RA 4670, and RA 10612

The CHED and DepEd shall likewise work closely in finding complementary
activities between private and public higher education institutions and basic
education schools, This may include, but is not limited to, the utilization of human
and physical resources of HEls, consistent with Sec. 12 of RA 10533.

(c) DOLE — The DOLE is hereby tasked to facilitate the retrenchment activities of
higher education institutions, awareness building initiatives for employers and
employees who will be affected by the transition, the redeployment of faculty and
stalf, as well as the conduct of livelihood training for the displaced personnel, in
cooperation with TESDA,

The Interagency Secretariat is hereby tasked to ensure the timely delivery as well as
the accessibility of information and of services to stakeholders concemed, locally and
online,

Further, said Secretariat shall, at the end of each calendar year, submit an annual report
to Congress, giving a detailed account of its proceedings and accomplishments

SEC. 12. Funding of the Tertiary Education Transition Fund, ~ The initial amount of
Twenty Nine Billion Pesos (P29,000,000,000.00) is hereby appropriated for this purpose
Said fund shall be sourced partly from the Higher Edueation Development Fund (HEDF) in
the Bureau of Treasury, SUCs, and from taxes collected from higher education institutions,
incremental dividends and receipts from government corporations, and overall savings of the
National Government,

Private donations through the HEDF may also be sourced and used to support the
CETP. Thereafter, corresponding annual budgetary requirements needed to attain the
purposes of this Act shall be included in the annual GAA.

Said fund shall only be utilized during the transition period of RA 10533. Any such
amount not fully utilized after said period shall revert back to the National Treasury

SEC. 13, Implementing Rules and Regulations. ~ Within sixty (60) days after the
cfiectivity of this Act, the CHED Chairperson, DepEd Secretary, DOLE Secretary and
TESDA Director-General shall promulgate the rules and regulations needed for the
implementation of this Act.

SEC. 14. Separability Clause. — If any provision of this Act is held invalid or
unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity and effectivity of the other provisions
hereof

SEC. 15. Repealing Clause. — All other laws, decrees, executive orders and rules and
regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or
modified accordingly

SEC. 16, Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at
least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,