Republic of the Philippines REELED
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ° he Fa MC RD
Quezon City, Metro Manila

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

2360

HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by Rep. LORETO B. ACHARON

AN
ACT CREATING A TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (TESDA)
DISTRICT OFFICE IN THE CITY OF GENERAL SANTOS TO BE KNOWN AS THE
TESDA GENERAL SANTOS CITY DISTRICT OFFICE AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks the creation of a district office of the Technical Education and Skills Development
Authority (TESDA) in the City of General Santos.

At present, TESDA SarGen (Saranggani and General Santos City) as one of the provincial offices of
TESDA in Region 12, caters to the needs of technical vocational institutions (TVI) and stakeholders in
the Province of Saranggani and the City of General Santos, thus the name “SarGen” to describe the
area of service coverage.

The creation of the TESDA provincial office in the Province of Saranggani with General Santos City by
virtue of Section 15 of RA 7796 or the TESDA Act of 1994 is an innovative administrative arrangement
aimed to directly link the national government with both local governments in skills development
programs and projects. However, such arrangement is no longer plausible under present day needs of
stakeholders.

To elucidate, out of the fifty (50) TVIs regulated by TESDA SarGen, forty-four (44) of these are located
in the City of General Santos.

Twenty-two (22) out of the twenty-six (26) TESDA Accredited Assessment Centers supervised by this
provincial office are also located in the City of General Santos.

The General Santos National School of Arts and Trades, the only TESDA administered school in Region
12, and the TESDA Training Center GSC, two (2) major TESDA Technology Institutions (TTI) are located
in the City of General Santos as well

As per record and experience, close to eighty-five (85) percent of the total accomplishments of the
provincial TESDA office in terms of enrollees, graduates, assessed and certified come from Technical
and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions in the City.


Thus, it has become incumbent upon this representation to propose for the separation of the district,
office from the Provincial Office two (2) so that the TVET needs of the province are not overlooked
and underprioritized in favor of the city’s needs.

On hindsight, the City of General Santos has been classified as a highly urbanized city (HUC) since
September 5, 1988, and has no territorial, juridical, political, and administrative ties with the Provinces
of South Cotabato or Saranggani.

This political independence is remarkably defined in Section 103 of Republic Act No. 5412, as
amended, otherwise known as the Charter of the City of General Santos; Section 3 paragraph 4 of
Batas Pambansa Bilang 51 or the Act Providing for the Elective or Appointive Positions in Various Local
Governments and for Other Purposes; Sections 165 to 168, Title Three, Chapter | of Batas Pambansa
Bilang 337 otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1983 and Section 452-c, Title Three,
Chapter | of Republic Act No. 7160 otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991.

Ithas to be emphasized that the establishment of a TESDA district office in General Santos City is the
more area-based, demand-driven, logical, and practical administrative and regulative approach to
efficiently respond to the needs of TVET stakeholders in the city.

On the other hand, TESDA provincial personnel can become more strategically positioned to
concentrate on the full and total development of TVET Institutions and Technical Training Institutions
in Saranggani as both local governments in collaboration with TESDA strive to create more avenues
for human resource development in their respective localities.

That said and in view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is earnestly sought.



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

2960

HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by Rep. LORETO B, ACHARON

AN
ACT CREATING A TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY (TESDA) DISTRICT OFFICE IN THE CITY OF GENERAL SANTOS, TO BE
KNOWN AS THE TESDA GENERAL SANTOS CITY DISTRICT OFFICE, AND
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR.

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

SECTION 1. A regular district office of the Technical Education and Skills Development
Authority (TESDA) is hereby created in the City of General Santos, to be known as the “TESDA
General Santos City District Office”.

SEC. 2. The Secretary General of TESDA shall immediately include in the Authority's
program the operationalization of a regular TESDA District Office, the initial funding of which shall
be charged against the current year's appropriation of the existing provincial office. Thereafter, such
sums as may be necessary for the continued operations of the regular TESDA district office shall be
included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 3. The Secretary General of TESDA shall issue such rules and regulations necessary for
the effective implementation of this Act.

SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following the completion of its
publication in the Official Gazette, or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

APPROVED.