Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

3118

HOUSE BILLNO.*

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE JOSE “PINGPING” |. TEJADA.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill which seeks to establish the University of Southern Mindanao (USM)-
Kabacan, Cotabato TESDA Training and Assessment Center was originally introduced as
House Bill 9115 by the undersigned Jose “Pingping” |. Tejada in the Seventeenth (17")
Congress. It was passed by the House of Representatives and thereafter transmitted to the
Senate where it failed to pass due to lack of material time.

Education is fundamental to the realization of inclusive growth, as it begets
knowledge and culture, education finds its practical articulation and demonstration in the
world of work. Thus, knowledge, as it is inextricably embedded with people replete with
ideas and bursting with entrepreneurial spirits, is valued as the key strategic resource to
achieving growth objectives. Commitment to education acknowledges the different
pathways toward acquiring knowledge, of which technical and vocational education and
training, as a path when taken in conjunction with other education and training pathways, is
recognized to be one primary knowledge building block.

‘The establishment of an accessible TESDA training and assessment center within the
University of Southern Mindanao campus will not only focus in the development of
mainstream Filipino middle-level manpower but as well as open the path to further develop
and enhance the abilities of our local farmers and encourage the younger generation to
consider farming as an alternative and promising trade. Taking cognizance of the fact that
regions vary in their economic and human resource potentials, the University of Southern
Mindanao (USM)-Kabacan, Cotabato TESDA Training and Assessment Center will serve as the
pioneer skills training institution to offer short term courses in market-driven and relevant
technical vocational courses and agriculture related technical-vocational training and skills
development programs.

University of Southern Mindanao (USM)-Kabacan, Cotabato TESDA Training and
Assessment Center will serve the noble purpose of providing students with basic practical
knowledge and technical expertise in their desired area of competency thus enabling them
to become productive and self-reliant partners in the achievement of social and economic
development.

Hence the passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

/

JOSE “PING! EJADA
3" District, Province of Cotabato


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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 3118

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE JOSE “PINGPING” I, TEJADA

AN ACT
ESTABLISHING A TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (TESDA)
TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT CENTER IN THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MINDANAO
(USM), LOCATED IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF KABACAN, PROVINCE OF COTABATO, TO BE
KNOWN AS THE USM-KABACAN, COTABATO TESDA TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT CENTER
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 “University of Southern Mindanao
(USM)-Kabacan, Cotabato TESDA Training and Assessment Center Act.”

SECTION 2. Establishment. - There is hereby established a Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA) Training and Assessment Center in the USM, in the Municipality of
Kabacan, Province of Cotabato, under the supervision of the TESDA, to be known as the USM-
Kabacan, Cotabato TESDA Training and Assessment Center.

SECTION 3. General Mandate. - The USM-Kabacan, Cotabato TESDA Training and
Assessment Center, hereinafter referred to as the Center, shall primarily provide technical-
vocational training and skills development programs to students and residents from low-income
families and out-of-school youths, including indigenous people and persons with disabilities (PWDs)
in the Municipality of Kabacan and the adjacent localities of the Province of Cotabato within the
access radius of the USM, geared towards the acquisition of practical livelihood, employable skills,
gainfull employment and entrepreneurship.

The Center shall help train local residents in the host locality of Kabacan and its adjacent
sixteen (16) municipalities and the capital city of Kidapawan within the operational access radius of
the Center to become productive, self-reliant and globally competitive middle to high-level skilled
labor force to hasten the social and economic development of these areas and the Province of
Cotabato, in particular, and to meet the manpower needs both local and international labor
markets, in general.

The Center shall consider in the design of relevant technical-vocational training programs to
be offered thereat a competency assessment of the socioeconomic profile, employment conditions
and opportunities, business climate, market and industry potentials, available resources, presence of
support structures, including the literacy level and skills readiness, and the overall development
within the operational radius of the center established herein. The Center shall also consider the
relevant skills trade competencies, craftsmanship training programs, and entrepreneurship activities


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needed to deliver the effective employment and development interventions required to make these
areas as human resource and productivity hubs.

The Center Shall also serve as a TESDA-accredited assessment center for acquired
competencies in technical-vocational skills in the host locality of Kabacan, the adjacent sixteen (16)
municipalities and the capital city of Kidapawan, Province of Cotabato, within the operational access
radius of the Center.

Preference in admission shall be given to the most disadvantaged citizens, including PWD's,
and to the most economically depressed areas of Kabacan and adjacent localities of the Province of
Cotabato within the operational radius of the Center.

The Center shall, in coordination with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the TESDA,
offer relevant teachers’ training assistance and curriculum design to the secondary schools providing
the technical-vocational livelihood (TVL) track under the K to 12 Program of the DepEd in Kabacan
and its adjacent sixteen (16) municipalities and the capital city of Kidapawan, Province of Cotabato.

SECTION 4. Training Programs. - The Center shall offer diverse short-term certificate
courses and modular trainings in relevant technical-vocational skills and trades specialization to
comply with employment standards in preferred and emerging market-driven labor opportunities,
and shall likewise give premium efforts to skills specialization and new trends for local market
employment requirement geared towards achieving the development of a robust inclusive economy
within the host area and each of the adjacent localities and communities within the operational
radius of the Center, in consultation with the department of Labor and Employment (DOLE),
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department
of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA),
business-industry partners, and other relevant agencies, both local and international.

The Center may establish research and technology hubs, technology development farms,
mobile training programs, and satellite or extension training centers in priority areas throughout
Kabacan and the Province of Cotabato to strengthen the linkages among the industry, the academe,
and the Center.

To address the development and manpower needs of the host locality of Kabacan, it’s
adjacent sixteen (16) municipalities, and the capital city of Kidapawan, Province of Cotabato, the
Center shall offer the following TESDA-registered technical-vocational training programs with
competencies assessment leading to National Certification Levels I-III:

{a) Skills training in industrial technology and hard trade such as metal and steelworks,
machine fabrication and operation, heavy equipment operation, automotive mechanic, 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
farm-fishing operations technology, backyard farming and home-based aquaculture and propagation
innovation, mechanized farm and fishing tools and equipment operation, agribusiness, agri-aqua
trade technology and innovations, and relevant farmers and fisherfolk’s continuing training for
increased productivity and entrepreneurship;

{¢) Livelihood skills development courses for preferred skills employment and small-scale
entrepreneurship, including practical skills education in crafts and arts, workmanship and designing,
high-speed sewing, dressmaking and tailoring, horticulture, livestock raising and breeding, food


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processing technology, home technology, culinary arts and commercial cooking, cosmetology, health
and wellness training;

(4) 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,
including online-home-based business operation and use of social media business marketing;

{e) Technical-vocational occupation and trade skills such as carpentry, masonry, plumbing,
welding, practical electricity and installation, automotive servicing, electronics servicing, personal
computer (PC) servicing, and other relevant practical skills courses;

(f) Computer literacy and information technology (IT)-related skills, digital technology, web
design, animation, photoshop/online photography, computer design, and advertising;

(g) Social communication skills development, language proficiency courses in English and
other languages for business process outsourcing (call center) employment and overseas job
placement;

(h) Seminars in personality development, career counseling and job placement, and work
ethic and values; and

(i) Other preferred priority skills and trade training that may be relevant to the needs of the
people of the Province of Cotabato to enhance their capacities for increased productivity, practical
livelihood, gainful employment, and entrepreneurship skills.

SECTION 5. Compliance with TESDA Requirements. — The provision of this Act
notwithstanding, the Center herein established in the USM shall become operationally effective only
upon the determination and declaration of the TESDA, through the issuance of a formal
recommendation and certificate of compliance, that the Center has satisfactorily complied with the
minimum requirements for quality standards prescribed by the TESDA governing the following
competency assessment: (a) standard procedures and guidelines (SPGs) for the establishment and
operation of a TESDA-accredited training and assessment center; (b) operational sustainability of the
Center established herein, in terms of licensed faculty-trainers and personnel, equipment, training
and laboratory facilities, instructional materials, and other standard requirements as TESDA-
accredited training and assessment center; (C) sustainable funding source and allocation of separate
budget requirement for the operation of the Center herein established; (d) assurance that the
training programs offered are fully aligned with the minimum standards of competency-based
quality technical-vocational skills technology and the needs of the host area and adjacent
communities served in the context of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and
Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF) for technical-vocational education; and (e) compliance
with such other TESDA conditionalities and standards in establishing a TESDA-accredited training and
assessment center within a university, as may be necessary and applicable.

The TESDA and USM shall execute a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) authorizing the
establishment and operation of the Center inside the USM Campus; Provided, That, the USM Board
of Regents passes a resolution approving the Center; Provided, further, That, both the TESDA and the
USM are in full accord with their respective obligations pursuant to the purposes of the Center
under this Act.


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SECTION 6. Administration. - The Center shall be headed by a Technical-Vocational
Administrator, under the supervision of the TESDA, who shall render full-time service and be
responsible for the administration and operation of the Center.

The Technical-Vocational Administrator shall be appointed by the TESDA Director-General in
accordance with Civil Service Commission rules and regulations and the qualification requirements
for such office.

The Technical-Vocational Administrator shall enter into mutual agreements with locally-
based private and public counterpart agencies or instrumentalities and persons, subject to approval
by the TESDA Director General, for such assistance as may be necessary to effectively implement this
Act.

SECTION 7. Appropriations. — The Director General of TESDA shall include in the Authority's
program the implementation of this Act, the initial funding of which shall be charged against the
current years appropriation of TESDA. Thereafter the amount necessary for the continued operation
of the Center shalll be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SECTION 8. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within ninety (90) days after the
approval of this Act, TESDA, in coordination with DOLE, Department of Agriculture, DTI, DOST, NEDA,
Department of Budget and Management (DBM), DILG, USM, concerned LGUs and such other
relevant agencies shall formulate and issue the necessary rules and regulations for the
implementation of this Act.

SECTION 9. Separability Clause. ~ if, for any reason, any section or provision of this Act is held
invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions not affected thereby shall continue to be in
force and effect.

SECTION 10. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders, proclamations, rules and
regulations, and other issuances, or part or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with any provisions
of this Act, are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

SECTION 11. Effectivity Clause. — This Act shall take effect immediately after the completion of its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,