Republic of the Philippines:
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

TWENTIETH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 1399

INTRODUCED BY REP. MAXIMO JR. Y. DALOG

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Bill seeks to establish a Technical Skills and Development Authority
(TESDA) Training and Assessment Center in the municipality of Paracelis, province
of Mountain Province to be known as the “Paracelis, Mountain Province TESDA
Training and Assessment Center.”

At present, TESDA-Mountain Province has a Provincial Training Center (PTC)
located at Sabangan, Mountain Province which can only be accessed by private
vehicles form the national road. It is located several kilometers away from the eastern
municipalities of Barlig, Natonin and Paracelis. Hence, due to the distance and the
difficulty of access, a few from said municipalities have availed of the trainings only
offered at the PTC.

The establishment of a TESDA Training and Assessment Center in the
municipality of Paracelis will make high-quality technical education and skills
development accessible to the people of the host municipality and the adjacent
localities. In addition, the establishment of the TESDA Training and Assessment
Center will enable the residents of the host municipality and the adjacent localities to
become productive partners in community and nation building and address the need
for trained, technical and skilled workers. It will also reduce unemployment by
equipping interested residents, adequate entrepreneurial skills and knowledge.

In view of the foregoing, approval of the bill is earnestly sought.

MAXIMO JR.


Republic of the Philippines.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

TWENTIETH CONGRESS:
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 1399

INTRODUCED BY REP. MAXIMO JR. Y. DALOG

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A TECHNICAL AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT CENTER IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF
PARACELIS, MOUNTAIN PROVINCE AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

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

Sec. 1. Establishment of a Training and Assessment Center in Paracelis,
Mountain Province. There is hereby established a training and assessment center,
under the supervision of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
(TESDA), to be known as the “Paracelis, Mountain Province TESDA Training and
Assessment Center’. It shall be located in a highly accessible area in the Municipality
of Paracelis, Mountain Province, pursuant to the purposes of this Act and the
agreement between the TESDA and the concerned local government units (LGUs).

Sec. 2. General Mandate. The Paracelis, Mountain Province TESDA Training
and Assessment Center, hereinafter referred to as the Center, shalll primarily provide
technical-vocational education and training (TVET) programs to students and local
residents from low-income families and out-of-school youths, including persons with
disabilities and indigenous peoples, 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 in trade competencies, craftsmanship, and
entrepreneurship activities to help hasten the development of the host area and its
adjacent localities into human resource and productivity hubs.

The Center shall also provide technical-vocational training for teachers and
curriculum design to the secondary schools in the province offering the technical-
vocational livelihood track under the K to 12 Program, in coordination with the
Department of Education (DepEd) and the TESDA.

Sec. 3. 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 area
and its adjacent localities.

The Center may establish research and technology hubs, technology
development farms, satellite or extension training centers, promote mobile training
programs, and strengthen linkages among the industry partners, the academe, and
the Center geared towards the acquisition by residents or practical livelihood,
employable skills, gainful employment, and entrepreneurial capabilities in priority
areas in the Municipality of Paracelis and adjacent localities in Mountain Province.

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 training 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 technology and innovations, and relevant training seminars for
farmers and fisherfolk to encourage entrepreneurship and thus increase
their productivity;

c. Livelihood skills development courses for preferred skills employment and
small-scale entrepreneurship, including practical skills 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,
health and wellness training;

d. Basic business literacy training in financial management and marketing,
practical accountancy, bookkeeping and 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 social media
business marketing;

e. Technical-vocational occupation and trades kills such as carpentry,
masonry, plumbing, welding, practical electricity and installation, automotive
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 or 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. Personality development, career counseling, 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 Paracelis and of adjacent localities to enhance their
capabilities for practical livelihood, gainful employment, and entrepreneurial
activities;

Sec. 4. Compliance with TESDA Requirements. The provisions of this Act
notwithstanding, the Center shall become operational only upon the issuance by the
TESDA of a formal recommendation and certificate of compliance attesting that the
Center has satisfactory complied with the minimum standards of quality it has
prescribed 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; (d) 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 the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations integration and the Philippine Qualifications Framework for
TVET; and (e) compliance with such other TESDA conditionalities and standards as
may be necessary and applicable in establishing a Center.

Sec. 5. Administration of the Center. The Center shall be headed by a
Technical-Vocational Administrator who shall render fulltime service and be
responsible for its administration and operation, under the supervision of the TESDA.

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 may enter into agreements with locally-
based private and public counterpart agencies, instrumentalities or persons, and seek
such assistance as may be necessary to effectively implement this Act, subject to the
approval of the TESDA Director General.

Sec. 6. 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.

Sec. 7. Implementing Rules and Regulations. Within ninety (90) days after
the approval of this Act, the TESDA shall, in coordination with the DOLE, DTI, DOST,
DA, Department of Budget and Management, DepEd, DILG, NEDA, the concerned


LGUs, and such other relevant agencies and industry-business partners of the host
locality, prepare and issue rules and regulations for the effective implementation of
this Act.

Sec. 8. Separability Clause. If, for any reason, any section or provision of this
Act shall be declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions
thereof shall not be affected and shall remain in force and in effect.

Sec 9. 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. 10. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,