Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. ___________ 
INTRODUCED BY REP. JOSE “BONG” J. TEVES, JR. 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
This bill seeks to convert the Cabugao School of Handicraft and Cottage 
Industries (CSHCI) in the Municipality of Bato, Province of Catanduanes, into a 
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) supervised school to 
be known as the Catanduanes Polytechnic Skills Development Institute. 
The conversion will enable our constituents in the Province of Catanduanes 
access to relevant and technical vocational programs that will enhance their skills and 
be globally competitive. As a result,  they will be able to qualify for employment 
abroad and further help our country and our province through their foreign currency 
remittances.  
This bill is likewise in accordance with the Constitutional mandate of the State 
to establish and maintain a complete, adequate, and integrated educational system 
relevant to the goals of the national and provincial development. 
During the 18th Congress, this representation also filed the same bill through 
House Bill No. 4686 substituted by House Bill No. 8006 which was approved by the 
House of Representatives on third and final reading and was transmitted to the 
July 20, 2022
2:08 am
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Senate. However, the Senate failed to act on the said piece of legislation which resulted 
to the refiling of this bill. 
 
 
In view of this, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HON. JOSE “BONG” J. TEVES, JR.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
        Representative 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
                     TGP Partylist 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. ___________ 
INTRODUCED BY REP. JOSE “BONG” J. TEVES, JR. 
AN ACT 
CONVERTING THE CABUGAO SCHOOL OF HANDICRAFT AND COTTAGE 
INDUSTRIES (CSHCI) IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF BATO, PROVINCE OF 
CATANDUANES, 
INTO 
A 
TECHNICAL 
EDUCATION 
AND 
SKILLS 
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (TESDA)-SUPERVISED AND ADMINISTERED 
SCHOOL TO BE KNOWN AS THE CATANDUANES POLYTECHNIC SKILLS 
DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (CPSDI), AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS 
THEREFOR 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled. 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Catanduanes 
Polytechnic Skills Development Institute Act”. 
SEC. 2. Conversion. - The Cabugao School of Handicraft and Cottage 
Industries (CSHCI) located in Barangay Cabugao in the Municipality of Bato, Province 
of Catanduanes, is hereby converted into the Catanduanes Polytechnic Skills 
Development Institute (CPSDI), and placed under the supervision and administration 
of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).  
SEC. 3. General Mandate. — The CPSDI, hereinafter referred to as the Institute, 
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 
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labor market for technical skills, and align them with the standards of the industry. 
To this end, the Institute 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 that will facilitate the acquisition by the citizenry of the 
necessary technical skills that will 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 
Catanduanes into human resource and productivity hubs. 
 
Priority admission to the Institute, 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 of the Municipality of Bato and the adjacent localities in the 
Province of Catanduanes to ensure their development into productive and globally 
competitive skilled labor assets.  
 
 
The Institute shall serve as a TESDA-accredited assessment center for acquired 
competencies in TVET programs in the Province of Catanduanes. It shall also provide 
teachers’ training and curriculum design assistance to the secondary schools offering 
the technical-vocational livelihood track under the IN to 12 Program in coordination 
with the Department of Education (DepEd), the TESDA, and the Department of Labor 
and Employment (DOLE).  
 
SEC. 4. Curriculum Offerings and Training Programs —The Institute shall 
offer one-year to three-year TESDA-registered TVET programs and undergraduate 
certificate courses, including short-term courses and modular trainings in preferred 
technical-vocational skills specialization. It shall aim to meet the competency 
requirements under Level V of the Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF), which 
is the Diploma Level in TVET.  
 


To this end, the 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 Institute may establish research and technology hubs, technology 
development farms, satellite or extension training centers, promote mobile training 
programs, and strengthen linkages with industry partners and the academe in order 
to better provide residents of the Municipality of Bato and the adjacent localities in the 
Province of Catanduanes with practical livelihood, employable skills, and 
entrepreneurial capabilities.  
 
It shall also adopt the use of innovative training modes such as information 
technology-assisted instruction, dual learning system, open or distance education, 
community laboratory, and such other instructional programs that will allow local 
residents greater access to TVET program offerings of the Institute.  
 
Course completion at the Institute shall be credited through skills competency 
assessment under National Certification (NC) Levels III to V. When applicable, TVET 
competency shall qualify for academic degree recognition under the ladderized 
interface system for tertiary education, provided that the requirements of the 
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) are complied with.  
 
The Institute shall offer skills development for higher competency 
qualifications in areas relating to technical industrial education, trade technology, 
tourism, agricultural technology, business literacy, and innovation in TESDA-
registered skills courses as follows:  
 


(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) Tourism and hospitality-related courses relating to hotel, restaurant and 
tourism development management; 
 
(c) Agriculture and aquaculture-related trainings and skills development in 
such areas as farming technology, fishing operations technology, backyard 
farming and home-bxased aquaculture and propagation innovations, 
mechanized farming, fishing tools and equipment operation, agribusiness,  
agri-aqua trade  technology 
and  innovations, and relevant farmers and 
fisherfolk’s trainings for increased productivity and entrepreneurship;  
 
(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, digital 
technology, web design, animation, photoshop/online photography, 
computer design, and advertising;  
 
(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 the Municipality of Bato and the adjacent localities in the Province of 
Catanduanes 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 CSHCI into the 
CPSDI shall become operational only upon the determination and certification by the 
TESDA, through the issuance of a formal recommendation and certificate of 
compliance, that the Institute has satisfactorily complied with the minimum 
requirements for standards of quality prescribed by the TESDA governing the 
following :  
 
a) Standard procedures and guidelines for the conversion and operation of a 
TESDA polytechnic institute;  
 


b) Operational sustainability of the Institute in terms of licensed faculty-
trainers and personnel, equipment, training and laboratory facilities, 
instructional materials, and other standard requirements of TESDA-
accredited and supervised school;  
 
c) Sustainable funding source and regular allocation of budgetary 
requirement; 
 
d) Full alignment of the training programs offered with the minimum 
standards of competency-based quality technical-vocational technology 
skills and the needs of the host area and adjacent localities served within 
the context of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 
integration and the PQF for TVET; and  
 
e) Compliance with such other TESDA conditionalities and standards, as may 
be necessary and applicable, on the conversion of the CSHCI into the 
Institute. 
 
 
SEC. 6. Administration. — The Institute shall be headed by a School 
Superintendent under the supervision of the TESDA, who shall render full-time 
service and be responsible for its administration and operation. The School 
Superintendent 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 School Superintendent shall enter into agreement with locally-based 
private and public counterpart agencies or instrumentalities and persons, subject to 
the approval of the TESDA Director General, for such assistance as may be necessary 
to effectively implement this Act.  
 
 


The academic and administrative staff of the Institute shall be organized 
following the staffing pattern of TESDA for such type of schools, pursuant to 
existing laws, rules and regulations.  
 
 
SEC. 7. Assets, Liabilities and Personnel. - All assets, fixed and movable, 
personnel, records and documents, as well as the liabilities or obligations of the 
Cabugao School of Handicraft and Cottage Industries, shall be transferred to the 
Institute: Provided, That the positions, rights and security of tenure of faculty and 
personnel therein employed prior to its conversion into the Institute, shall not be 
impaired, pursuant to existing laws.  
 
 
All parcels of land belonging to the government occupied by the defunct 
CSHCI are henceforth declared property of the Institute and shall be titled under that 
name: Provided, That, should the Institute cease to exist or such aforementioned 
parcels of land be no longer needed by the Institute, the same shall revert to the 
concerned local government unit (LGU), or to the Municipality of Bato, Province of 
Catanduanes.  
 
 
SEC. 8. Appropriations. - The Director General of the TESDA shall include in 
the Authority’s program the operation of the Institute, the funding of which shall be 
included in the annual General Appropriations Act.  
 
 
SEC. 9. 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, the Department of Budget and Management, DILG, NEDA, the concerned LGUs, 
and such other relevant agencies and industry-business partners of the host locality, 
prepare and issue the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation 
of this Act. 
 
 
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,