EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
Third Regular Session 
)
SENATE
S. B. No. 2295
FILED
TH.iE
NDEX
Introduced by SENATOR IMEE R. MARCOS
AN ACT CONVERTING THE CAGAYAN DE ORO (BUGO) SCHOOL OF 
ARTS AND TRADES (COBSAT) IN THE CITY OF CAGAYAN DE ORO, 
PROVINCE OF MISAMIS ORIENTAL, INTO A TECHNICAL EDUCATION 
AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (TESDA)-SUPERVISED AND 
ADMINISTERED SCHOOL TO BE KNOWN AS THE CAGAYAN DE ORO 
POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE (COPI), AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS
THEREFOR
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The 1987 Constitution, Article XIV, Section 2, paragraph 1 provides that, "The 
State shall: (1) Establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and integrated 
system of education relevant to the needs of the people and society."
In 2001, TESDA identified Cagayan De Oro (Bugo) School of Arts and Trades 
(COBSAT) as a Center of Excellence in Automotive Technology. It was granted by the 
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Quality System award giving 
bodies a Bronze Level Award in 2003. In 2009, the Asia Pacific Accreditation & 
Certification Commission (APACC) awarded the Bronze Category Accreditation to the 
school. To date, COBSAT is strengthening its ties with industry partners and locai 
governments, as well as to establish an effective career development program for 
trainees, high school students, out-of-school youth, career shifters, and retired 
workers, by keeping abreast of job demands and opportunities in both the domestic 
and international markets.
Hence, this bill seeks to convert the Cagayan de Oro (Bugo) School of Arts and 
Trades (COBSAT) located in Cagayan de Oro City, Province of Misamis Orientai, into 
Cagayan de Oro Polytechnic Institute (COPI) under the supervision of the Technical 
Education and Skiils Development Authority (TESDA). The conversion shall establish 
COPI as a globally competitive institution and wiil highly contribute to the economy of 
the City.
In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of this measure earnestly 
sought.
[Tmarcos


1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 
g
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 
21 
22
23
24
25
26
EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
Third Regular Session 
)
SENATE
S. B. No. 2295
E-FILED ^5 
June 17 2021 m
date:
3:30 p.m.
th.ie:
nde* X
Introduced by SENATOR IMEE R. MARCOS
AN ACT CONVERTING THE CAGAYAN DE ORO (BUGO) SCHOOL OF 
ARTS AND TRADES (COBSAT) IN THE CITY OF CAGAYAN DE ORO, 
PROVINCE OF MISAMIS ORIENTAL, INTO A TECHNICAL EDUCATION 
AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (TESDA)-SUPERVISED AND 
ADMINISTERED SCHOOL TO BE KNOWN AS THE CAGAYAN DE ORO 
POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE (COPI), AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS
THEREFOR
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled:
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Cagayan de Oro 
Polytechnic Institute (COPI) Act".
SEC. 2. Conversion. - The Cagayan de Oro (Bugo) School of Arts and Trades 
(COBSAT) located in City of Cagayan de Oro, Province of Misamis Oriental, is hereby 
converted into the Cagayan de Oro Polytechnic Institute (COPI), and placed under the 
supervision and administration of the Technical Education and Skills Development 
Authority (TESDA).
SEC. 3. General Mandate.- The COPI shall restructure its technical-vocational 
education and training , (TVET) programs to effect a major curricular shift in response 
to the demand of the local and international labor market for technical skills, and align 
them with the standards of the industry.
To this end, the COPI shall upgrade its curricular standards as a tertiary TESDA- 
polytechnic skills educational institution and provide higher level competency 
qualifications for instructors in TESDA-registered TVET programs and certificate 
courses. It shall provide a wide array of relevant skills trainings and trade specialization 
courses to facilitate the acquisition by the citizenry of the necessary technical skills 
that shall enhance their access to gainful employment, practical livelihood, and 
entrepreneurial opportunities, and thus hasten the development of the host area and 
the adjacent localities in the Province of Misamis Oriental into human resource and 
productivity hubs.
Priority admission to the COPI, including availment of scholarships, grants-in- 
aid and student financial assistance, shall be given to the most economically 
disadvantaged students, out-of-school youths, persons with disabilities, and 
indigenous peoples in the City Cagayan de Oro and the adjacent localities to ensure


1 
their development into productive, self-reliant and globally competitive skilled labor
2 
assets.
3 
The COPI shall serve as a TESDA-accredited assessment center for acquired
4 
competencies in TVET programs in the Province of Misamis Oriental. It shall also
5 
provide teachers' training and curriculum design assistance to the secondary schools
6 
offering the technical-vocational, livelihood track under the K to 12 Program In
7 
coordination with the Department of Education the TESDA, and the Department of
8 
Labor and Employment (DOLE).
9
10 
SEC. 4. Curricular Offerings/Training Programs. -The COPI shall offer TESDA-
11 
registered TVET program, undergraduate certificate courses, and short-term courses
12 
and modular trainings in preferred technical-vocational skills. It shall aim to meet the
13 
competency requirements under Level V of the Philippine Qualifications Framework
14 
(PQF), which is the Diploma Level in TVET.
15 
To this end, the DOLE, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department
16 
of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of
17 
the Interior and Local Government (DILG), National Economic and Development
18 
Authority (NEDA), business-industry partners, and other relevant agencies and
19 
instrumentalities, both local and international, shall provide the necessary assistance
20 
so the COPI can produce skilled manpower to supply the needs of a robust and
21 
inclusive economy.
22 
The COPI may establish research and technology hubs, technology
23 
development farms, satellite or extension training centers, promote mobile training
24 
programs, and strengthen linkages with industry partners and the academe.
25 
It shall also adopt the use of innovative training modes such as information
26 
technology-agisted instruction, dual learning system, open or distance education,
27 
community laboratoiy, virtual and blended learning modes, and such other
28 
instructional programs that shall allow local residents greater access to TVET program
29 
offerings of the COPI.
30 
Course completion at the COPI shall be credited through skills competency
31 
assessment under National Certification Levels III to V. When applicable, TVET
32 
competency shall qualify for academic degree recognition under the ladderized
33 
interface system for tertiary education, provided that the requirements of the
34 
Commission on Higher Education are complied with.
35 
The COPI shall offer skills development for higher competency qualifications in
36 
areas relating to technical industrial education, trade technology, tourism, agricultural
37 
technology, business literacy, and innovation in TESDA-registered skills courses as
38 
follows:
39 
a) Skills training in industrial technology and hard trades such as metal and
40 
steelwork, machine fabrication and operation, heavy equipment
41 
operation, automotive mechanical assembly, refrigeration and air
42 
conditioning, electronics, and operation of power tools and equipment
43 
for both medium skills grade and industrial purposes;
44 
b) Tourism and hospitality-related courses relating to hotel, restaurant and
45 
tourism development management;


1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
c) 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 training seminars for farmers and fisherfolk to encourage 
entrepreneurship and thus increase their productivity;
d) 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;
e) 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 social media 
business marketing;
f) Technical-vocational occupation and trades skills such as carpentry, 
masonry, plumbing, welding, practical electricity and installation, 
automotive servicing, electronics servicing, personal computer servicing, 
and such other relevant practical skills courses;
g) Computer literacy and information technology-related skills, basic 
computer operation, web development, digital animation, game 
development, and computer-aided design application;
h) Social communication skills and language proficiency courses in English 
and other languages for business process outsourcing employment and 
overseas job placement;
i) Seminars on personality development, career counseling, job placement, 
and work ethic and values; and
j) Other preferred skills and trades training that may be needed by the 
people of Cagayan de Oro City and the adjacent localities to enhance 
their capacities for practical livelihood,. gainful employment, and 
entrepreneurial activities.
SEC. 5. Compliance with TESDA Requirements. - The provisions of this Act 
notwithstanding, the conversion of the COBSAT into the COPI shall become 
operational only upon the issuance by the TESDA of a formal recommendation and 
certificate of compliance attesting that the COPI has satisfactorily complied with the 
minimum standards of quality it has prescribed governing the following : a) standard 
procedures and guidelines for the conversion and operation of a TESDA polytechnic 
institute; b) operational sustainability of the COPI in terms of licensed faculty trainers 
and personnel,, equipment, training and laboratory facilities, instructional materials, 
and other standard requirements of a TESDA-accredited and supervised school; c)
3


1 
sustainable funding source and regular allocation of budgetary requirement for
2 
TESDA-operated schools; d) full alignment of the training programs offered with the
3 
minimum standards of competency-based quality technical vocational technology skills
4 
and the needs of the host area and adjacent localities served within the context of the
5 
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration and the PQF for TVET;
6 
and e) compliance.with such other TESDA conditionalities and standards, as may be
7 
necessary and applicable, on the conversion of the COBSAT.
8
9 
SEC. 6. Administration. - The COPI shall be headed by a School Superintendent
10 
under the supervision of the TESDA, who shall render full-time service and be
11 
responsible for its administration and operation. The School Superintendent shall be
12 
appointed by the TESDA Director General in accordance with the rules and regulations
13 
of the Civil Service Commission and the qualification' requirements for such office.
14 
The School Superintendent shall enter into agreement with locally-based
15 
private and public counterpart agencies or instrumentalities and persons, and seek
16 
such assistance as may be necessary to effectively implement this Act, subject to the
17 
approval of the TESDA Director General.
The academic and administrative staff of the COPI shall be organized following 
the staffing pattern of TESDA for such type of schools, pursuant to existing laws, rules 
and regulations, and the position classification and compensation of the Department 
of Budget and Management (DBM).
Pursuant to existing laws and promulgations, the COPI shall likewise establish 
its governing board thereafter.
SEC. 7. Assets, Liabiiities and Personnei. - All assets, fixed and movable, 
personnel, records and documents, as well as the liabilities or obligations of the 
COBSAT, shall be transferred to the COPI: Provided, That the positions, rights and 
security of tenure of faculty and personnel therein employed prior to its conversion 
into the COPI, shall not be impaired, pursuant to existing laws.
All parcels of land belonging to the government occupied by the defunct 
COBSAT are henceforth deciared property of the COPI and shall be titled under that 
name: Provided, That, should the COPI cease to exist or such aforementioned parcels 
of land be no longer needed by the COPI, the same shall revert to the concerned local 
government unit (LGU), or to. the City of Cagayan de Oro, Province of Misamis Oriental.
SEC. 8. Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the initial funding of the 
operations of COPI shall be charged against the current year's appropriations of 
COBSAT. Thereafter, the funding of which shail be included in the annuai General 
Appropriations Act.
SEC. 9. Impiementing Ruies and Reguiations. - Within ninety (90) days after 
the approval of this Act, the TESDA shall, in coordination with the DOLE, DTI, DOST, 
DA, the DBM, DILG, NEDA, the concerned LGUs, and such other relevant agencies and 
industry-business partners of the host locaiity, prepare and issue the necessary rules 
and regulations for the effectiye implementation of this Act.
18
19
20 
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46


1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 
g
10
SEC. 10. Separability Clause. - If, for any reason, any section or provision of 
this Act shall be deemed unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions 
hereof shall not be affected and shall remain in force and in effect.
SEC. 11. 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. 12. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
Approved,