Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasang Pambansa, Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 299)

INTRODUCED BY REP. JOSEPH VICTOR G. EJERCITO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill aims to establish a National Agriculture Education System
(NAES), which is an approach to stratify institutional goals, upgrade standards
and increase the school's effectiveness in instruction, research and extension
within the nation, region or province. Through the NAES, the State commits to
the exposure of all aspects of agriculture to teachers, students and the
community to create and maintain an understanding and appreciation of
agriculture and related industries. It is a great opportunity to promote agriculture
awareness and an understanding of the importance of agriculture to all members
of society

Soil is one of our most precious resources. Therefore, we have to work on
changing farm policy to emphasize its proper use. We must get farmers into
classrooms. We must strive to move student out of the classroom and onto farms
which model sustainable systems. Together, we can work toward the goal of
sustainable agricultural systems.

The bill seeks to improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of
agriculture education programs while preserving the concern for equity or
democratized access to higher education in the rural areas. It is also a response
to the call for greater productivity, higher rural incomes and better quality of life
for the Filipino people.

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

JOSEPH VICTOR G. EJERCITO


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasang Pambansa, Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. _2591

INTRODUCED BY REP. JOSEPH VICTOR G. EJERCITO

AN ACT
RATIONALIZING AGRICULTURE EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES BY
ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE EDUCATION
INSTITUTIONS, PROVIDING FOR MECHANISMS OF IMPLEMENTATION,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

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

CHAPTER 1. TITLE AND POLICIES

SECTION 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Agriculture
Education Act of 2010".

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policies. -

a) The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens, regardless
of sex, and creed to quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate
‘steps to make such education accessible to all.

b) The State shall establish, maintain, and support a complete and
integrated system of agriculture education relevant to the needs of the economy,
community and society

c) The State shall provide non-formal education and training to farmers,
farmworkers and out-of-school youths in the rural areas. Agriculture education
shall be coordinated with agricultural policies of the State and shall be oriented
particularly towards improvement of the productivity and incomes of small
farmers and increased self-sufficiency of rural communities.

CHAPTER Il. COVERAGE
SEC. 3. Scope. - This Act shall apply to and govern both formal and non-
formal continuing agriculture education programs being offered in all public and

private educational institutions in the country.

SEC. 4. Definition of Terms. - The following terms shall mean as defined
herein:


a) Agriculture - means cultivation of the soil, planting of crops, growing of
fruit trees, management of forests, raising or catching of livestock or both, poultry
or fish; including the harvesting and post harvest handling of such products and
other activities and practices performed by a farmerfishermanfforester in
conjunction with such operations done by persons whether natural or juridical

b) Agriculture and Environmental Education - pertains to organized and
institutionalized instructions relating to professional, technical and vocational
skills development, research for technology development, and extension of
technologies in the various fields disciplines in agriculture and allied sciences
such as crop science, animal science, agricultural engineering, fisheries, forestry
and veterinary medicine. Environmental concerns are integrated in each
discipline.

CHAPTER Ill.
THE NATIONAL AGRICULTURE EDUCATION SYSTEM (NAES)

SEC. 5. Purpose. - Qualified existing public and private institutions,
colleges and universities shall be developed into a network of an integrated
system of agriculture education to respond effectively to agriculture and rural
development needs of the country.

SEC. 6. The National Agriculture Education System (NAES) — The
network of qualified public and private education institutions shall be formed and
established into a National Agriculture Education System (NAES), in order for
agriculture education to have a unified, coordinated and improved system of
implementation of academic program thrusts geared toward achieving agriculture
and rural development of the community and country. However, in case there is
No institution offering agriculture education in the service area which corresponds
to the provision of Section 7 of this Act, the same shall be created or established
according to implementing rules and regulations of this Act.

SEC. 7. Components of the System. - From among the qualified
agriculture education institutions, regardless of the institution's system of
governance as authorized by law, the network shall be composed of five (5)
subsystems, namely: agriculture, agricultural engineering, fisheries, forestry and
veterinary medicine. However, administrative organization and structures of the
designated institutions shall be governed by their respective charters unless
otherwise provided in this Act.

a) The Agriculture Education Sub-system shall be composed of one (1)
designated National College of Agriculture, one (1) designated Regional College
of Agriculture in each region, and at least one (1) designated/converted/created
Technical Institute of Agriculture per province as the case may be.

») The Agricultural Engineering Education Sub-system shall be composed
of one (1) designated national College of Agricultural Engineering and a
designated Regional College of Agricultural Engineering per region to be located
within the network of the agriculture education sub-system

c) The Fisheries Education Sub-system shall be composed of one (1)
designated Regional College of Fisheries to be located strategically in three (3)
selected regions and a designated converted/created Regional Institute of
Fisheries Technology per region.


d) The Forestry Education Sub-system shall be composed of one (1)
designated National College of Forestry and a designated Regional College of
Forestry per region to be located within the agriculture education sub-system, if
possible.

e) The Veterinary Education Sub-system shall be composed of one (1)
designated National College of Veterinary Medicine and four (4) designated
regional College of Veterinary Medicine to be located strategically in four (4)
selected regions within the agriculture education sub-system.

CHAPTER IV.

ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF INSTITUTIONS.
IN EACH LEVEL OF THE NETWORK

SEC. 8. The National Colleges (NCs) shall:

a) Concentrate on the post-graduate programs and curricular models in
the tertiary level;

b) Be responsible for the conduct of basic and applied researches and
other scientific innovations;

¢) Assist the Regional Colleges and institutions in their development
efforts towards excellence, effectiveness and relevance in instruction, research
and extension or technology transfer;

c) Link up with national and international agencies to keep abreast of local
needs and scientific advances; and

d) Share its expertise and facilities with the Government and the private
sector as far as policy recommendations, program planning and evaluation, and
Staff training are concerned.

SEC. 9. The Regional Colleges (RCs) shall:

a) Concentrate on Bachelor of Science degrees with reasonable
involvement in the post-graduate and model technology courses;

b) Focus on adaptive researches needed in the region with reasonable
involvement in basic and applied researches and verification projects;

c) Assist technical institutes in strengthening their institutional capabilities
towards relevance, effectiveness and excellence in instruction, action research
and technology transfer; and

d) Link up with, and assist government regional offices in planning and
evaluating their programs and in training their staff for agriculture activities.

SEC. 10 . The Regional Institutes of Fisheries Technology (RIFT)
shall.

a) Concentrate on the Diploma in Fisheries Technology designed for the
training of fisheries technicians on technical skills required of the fisheries
industry;


b) Conduct verification tests of new techniques developed by research
institutions and transfer positive results to field technicians, fishermen and
fishfarmers;

c) Assist the Fisherman's Training Center of the Bureau of Fisheries and
Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in planning, implementing and evaluating their
programs and training;

d) Assist high schools with fishery practical arts subjects in the
development of their instructional materials.

SEC. 11. The Provincial Technical Institutes (PTIs) shall:

a) Concentrate their curricular programs on technical and technology
courses designed for farming and extension work with reasonable involvement in
selected degree and non-degree, post-secondary advanced technology-related
courses in agriculture;

b) Conduct pilotaction researches and verification trials to demonstrate
advances in agricultural technology and transfer the same to technicians and
farmers through fields days, short courses and training programs;

¢) Serve as a learning and technology resource for development agencies
in the province in planning and evaluating programs and in training technicians,
small farmers, agricultural producers and entrepreneurs; and

d) Extend improved appropriate agricultural technologies to secondary
and vocational high schools

SEC. 12. Other Roles and Functions of the institutions. - In addition to
their regular roles and functions, all the member institutions mentioned above
shall also serve as the agricultural training centers in their respective areas and
offer continuing and adult education courses for related line agency
staff/farmersifisherfolk and community leaders to hasten technology transfer,
improve attitudes towards farming, and inculcate the importance of agriculture in
nation building in support to the Magna Carta for Small Farmers. It shall also be
the function of the institutions to provide assistance to students in conducting
their income-generating projects as well as placement of their graduates.

CHAPTER V.
IMPLEMENTING AND COORDINATING MECHANISMS

SEC. 13. Agricultural Education Development Council (AEDEC). - The
existing Technical Panel for Agricultural Education (TPAE) is hereby transformed
into the Agricultural Education Development Council (AEDEC) as the governing
advisory policy body which is autonomous and attached to the Department of
Education (DepEd) with the following composition and functions:

a) composition. - The AEDEC shall be composed of the following
members to be appointed by the Secretary of Education as its Ex-Officio
Chairman:

1) One (1) outstanding scientist, educator or practitioner from each of the
fields of Crop Science, Animal Science, Agricultural Engineering, Fisheries,
Forestry, Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture Teacher Education, who shall be


nominated by heads of faculties, scientific or professional groups for a term of
three (3) years, and from among them a Vice-chairman shall be chosen;

2) One (1) representative each from the Department of Agriculture,
Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Agrarian
Reform, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Budget and
Management and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA);

3) One (1) representative from the Commission on Higher Education;
4) One (1) representative from the Professional Regulation Commission;

5) One (1) representative from the Philippine Federation of Professional
Associations;

6) One (1) representative from the Federation or Association of Colleges
of Agriculture in the Philippines; and

7) One (1) representative from the Fund for Assistance to Private
Education,

b) Functions, - The AEDEC shall have the following duties and functions:

1) To study and review the overall philosophy and goals of agriculture and
environment education in relation to the regional, national and international
developments in agriculture and industry and formulate alternative directions and
plans;

2) To assess and identify the agriculture and environmental education,
training and employment needs of the country in consultation with the NEDA and
other concerned agencies;

3) To undertake policy, educational and evaluation research and
recommend measures to improve agriculture and environmental education;

4) To formulate and recommend guidelines and minimum educational
standards with respect to curricula, faculty, equipment and facilities, library
resources, student services, quality of output and other related criteria which
shall be applicable to all NAES member- institutions;

5) To develop and implement coordinative and collaborative mechanisms
of monitoring and evaluation of activities of NAES;

6) To establish and operate a Management Information System (MIS) for
the NAES;

7) To provide technical assistance to educational institutions in the
planning, development and implementation of agriculture and environmental
education programs in cooperation with appropriate agencies;

8) To receive or recommend grants or both for the funding of educational
research and development following the existing accounting and auditing manual
for research operations;

9) To appoint AEDEC staff and employees upon the recommendation and
endorsement of the Executive Director; and


10) To formulate implementing rules and regulations of this Act and
recommend the same to the Commission on Higher Education within six (6)
months after the effectivity of this Act; and

11) To perform such other functions as may be deemed necessary.

SEC. 14. Secretariat. - The AEDEC shall be assisted by technical and
administrative staff with appointment on permanent status to be headed by an
Executive Director. The Secretariat’ s office shall be at the University where the
National College of Agriculture is located. The services of a pool of
experts/consultants/resource persons on full-time or part-time status shall be
provided on special detail or secondment subject to the guidelines approved by
AEDEC.

SEC. 15. Budgetary Scheme shall be as follows:

a) The current appropriations or budgets of the public educational
institutions in the NAES designated as the national colleges and regional
colleges shall continue and shall be modified or adjusted in succeeding years in
order to meet the standards of the rationalized programs of the institutions as
approved by the Department of Budget and Management and shall be included
in the Annual General Appropriations Act

b) The PTISIRIFTs in the NAES which are designated or newly created
under this Act shall likewise be provided budgetary support based on their
programs and new staffing pattern as approved by the Department of Budget and
Management and shall be included in the Annual General Appropriations Act
Additional institutes that may be established in the province shall solely be
supported by provincial government funds.

¢) This Act shall hereby allocate an endowment lumpsum amount of Five
Million Pesos (P5,000,000.00) per annum for the next ten (10) years and shall be
included in the General Appropriations Act starting calendar year 2008. This fund
shall be called as the Agriculture Education Program Development Fund to
support the development, improvement and implementation of priority agriculture
education and farmers’ entrepreneurial training programs of NAES member
institutions: Provided, further, That such fund shall be invested in government
bonds and securities and managed by AEDEC using only the interest earnings of
the said fund.

d) The operations of the AEDEC shall be funded initially from the CHED
budget allocation for the Technical Panel for Agricultural Education (TPAE).
Upon the effectivity of this Act, TPAE shall be replaced by the AEDEC and all
equipment, qualified personnel and projects of the TPAE shall be transferred to
AEDEC. Subsequently, the initial amount of at least Three million pesos
(P3,000,000.00) shall be allocated for the AEDEC in the Annual General
Appropriations Act.

SEC. 16. Fiduciary, Endowment and Revolving Funds. -The Fiduciary
and Revolving Funds centralized under P.D. 711 are hereby authorized and
reallocated to the institutions in NAES to encourage them to demonstrate the
technologies that they develop in their laboratories, experimental farms and
income-generating projects, furthermore endowment funds shall be authorized to
be accumulated in the institutions, out of any funds generated from unallocated
savings, earings or from any other external sources to be used as incentives for


professorial chairs, teachers/employees incentives award systems, faculty
fellowship programs and the like. Such funds shall be disbursed in accordance
with law and guidelines set by AEDEC and the Commission on Audit

CHAPTER VI.
INCENTIVES, PRIVILEGES AND BENEFITS

SEC. 17. incentives for Private Institutions. - Private colleges or
universities that may be designated to perform any role in the system shall
basically be supported out of their private funds raised and solicited for its
operations. They shall be supported through the Fund for Assistance to Private
Education (FAPE), national grants, educational development subsidies, and
other forms of incentives such as deregulation of tuition and other fees and tax
exemptions especially on importation of books and equipment.

SEC. 18. Incentives for Agriculture Education Graduates. — The
following incentives are hereby provided to graduates to facilitate and maximize
their contributions to agriculture and national government

a) Agriculture Education Entrepreneurial Loan. - Graduates desiring to
establish agribusiness enterprises shall be provided with a loan not exceeding
One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) upon submission of an
authenticated diploma, a good feasibility study and is secured by a chattel
mortgage of assets acquired from the loan. Mechanisms to operationalize said
loan shall be provided by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas through the Land Bank
of the Philippines and other interested commercial or cooperative banks with the
assistance of the AEDEC.

b) Tax Incentives. - Graduates venturing into priority agribusiness
processing and manufacturing industries may avail of tax incentives under the
Board of Investments priority plan as provided by law and the Kalakalan 20 under
R.A. No. 1648.

CHAPTER VII. SPECIAL PROVISIONS

SEC. 19. By virtue of this Act, the non-chartered CHED managed colleges
that may be designated to perform the role of a regional college in the NAES
shall follow the structure of a state college as provided for in the guidelines of the
Department of Budget and Management starting at level four.

SEC. 20. Provincial Technical Institutes. - This Act shall hereby
authorize the Chairman of CHED upon endorsement of the AEDEC through the
recommendations of the provincial government or the regional development
councils as the case may be in the designations and/or change of status of
potential institutions into Technical Institutes of Agriculture in each province and
Institutes of Fisheries Technology in each region within the NAES: Provided,
however, That such designations including the institutions identified within the
NAES be published in the Government's official gazette: Provided, further, That
such institutes shall be headed by a Director and shall be allowed to adopt the
existing titles and academic ranks accorded to a college faculty: Provided,
furthermore, That such institutes which are attached to mother units shall have a
Director by designation whereas those independent institutes shall have a
Director with a plantilla position.


SEC. 21. Repealing Clause. - All existing laws, rules, and regulations or
parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed,
superseded, or modified accordingly.

SEC. 22. Separability Clause. - If any part, section or provision of this Act
shall be held invalid or unconstitutional, no other part, section or provision hereof
shall be affected thereby.

SEC. 23. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
Publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,