E REPRESS

Z° E- Filed”
Republic of the Philippines 2 A
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES iS RECEIVED e)
Batasan Hills, Quezon City Xl DATE August 5, 2022 (
* TIME 2:05pm *
NINETEENTH CONGRESS BY ui hy
First Regular Session 4

§
Wo inpex:

House Bill No. _ 3238

Introduced by

HON. YEDDA MARIE K. ROMUALDEZ
and
HON. JUDE A. ACIDRE

AN ACT
RATIONALIZING AGRICULTURE EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES BY
ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE EDUCATION
INSTITUTIONS, PROVIDING FOR MECHANISMS OF IMPLEMENTATION
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES,

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Philippines is primarily an agricultural country, with 47 per cent of its
land area being an agricultural land. According to the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD), more than half of the population of the
Philippines live in rural areas, and 36 per cent of them are poor, dependent on
agriculture as their primary and often only source of income.

Pursuant thereto and in line with the constitutional mandate of the State
to establish, maintain and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system
of education relevant to the needs of the people and society, the proposed
legislative measure seeks to establish a National Agriculture Education System
(NAES) in order for agricultural education to achieve a unified, coordinated, and
improved system of implementation of academic program thrusts geared
towards achieving agriculture and rural development of the community and the

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country. This will improve the productivity, income, and livelihood of the Filipino
people, especially those living in the rural areas.

In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

Rep. YEDDA MARIE K. ROMUALDEZ
Representative, 4ingog Sinirangan

Rep. JUDE/A. ACIDRE
Representative, Tingog Sinirangan


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. _ 3238

eee

Introduced by

HON. YEDDA MARIE K. ROMUALDEZ
and
HON. JUDE A. ACIDRE

AN ACT
RATIONALIZING AGRICULTURE EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES BY
ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE EDUCATION
INSTITUTIONS, PROVIDING FOR MECHANISMS OF IMPLEMENTATION
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES:
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of the Representatives of the

Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “Agriculture
Education Act of 2022.”

Section 2. Declaration of Policy. —

(a) The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens,
regardless of sex and creed, to quality education at all levels and
shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to
all;

(b) The State shall establish, maintain, and support a complete and
integrated system of agriculture education relevant to the needs of
the economy, community, and society;

(c) The State shall provide non-formal education and training to farmers,

farm workers, and out-of-school youths in the rural areas; and


(d) Agriculture education shall be coordinated with the agricultural
policies of the State and shall be oriented particularly towards
improvement of the productivity and income of small farmers and
increased self-sufficiency of rural communities.

Section 3. Scope. — This Act shall apply to and govern both formal and
non-formal continuing agriculture education programs being offered in all public
and private educational institutions in the country.

Section 4. Definition of Terms. — -The following terms shall mean as

defined herein:

(a) Agriculture - means cultivation of the soil, planting of crops, growing
of fruit trees, management of forests, raising or catching of livestock
or both, poultry, or fish; including the harvesting and post-harvest
handling of such products and other activities and practices
performed by a farmer/fisherman/forester in conjunction with such
operations done by persons whether natural or juridical.

(b) Agriculture and Environment Education - pertains to organized and
institutionalized instructions relating to professional, technical, and
vocational skills development, research for technology development,
and extension of technologies in the various fields/disciplines in
agriculture and allied sciences such as crop science, animal science,
agricultural engineering, fisheries, forestry, and veterinary medicine.

Environmental concerns are integrated in each discipline.

Section 5. Purpose. — Qualified existing public and private institutes,
colleges, and universities shall be developed into a network of an integrated
system of Agriculture Education to respond effectively to agriculture and rural
development needs of the country.

Section 6. The National Agriculture Education System (NAES). —
The network of qualified public and private educational institutions shall be


formed and established into a National Agriculture Education System (NAES),
for agriculture education to have a unified, coordinated, and improved system
of implementation of academic program thrusts geared towards achieving
agriculture and rural development of the community and country. However, in
case there is no institution offering agriculture education in the service area
which corresponds to the provision of Section 7 of this Act, the same shall be
created or established according to the implementing rules and regulations of
this Act.

Section 7. Components of the System. — From among the qualified
agriculture education institutions, regardless of the institution's system of
governance as authorized by law, the network shall be composed of five (5)
subsystems, namely: agriculture, agricultural engineering, fisheries, forestry,
and veterinary medicine. However, administrative organization and structures
of the designated institutions shall be governed by their respective charters
unless otherwise provided in this Act.

(a) The Agriculture Education Subsystem shall be composed of one (1)
designated National College of Agriculture, one (1) designated
Regional College of Agriculture in each region, and at least one (1)
designated/converted/created Technical Institute of Agriculture per
province.

(b) The Agricultural Engineering Education Subsystem shall be
composed of one (1) designated National College of Agricultural
Engineering and a designated Regional College of Agricultural
Engineering per region to be located within the network of the
agriculture education subsystem.

(c) The Fisheries Education Subsystem shall be composed of one (1)
designated Regional College of Fisheries to be located strategically
in three (3) selected regions and a designated/converted/created
Regional Institute of Fisheries Technology per region.

(d) The Forestry Education Subsystem shall be composed of one (1)
designated National College of Forestry and designated Regional


College of Forestry per region to be located within the agriculture
education subsystem, if possible.

(e) The Veterinary Education Subsystem shall be composed of one (1)
designated National College of Veterinary Medicine and four (4)
designated regional College of Veterinary Medicine to be located
strategically in four (4) selected regions within the agriculture
education system.

Section 8. The National Colleges (NCs) shall:

(a) Concentrate on the post-graduate programs and curricular models in
the tertiary level;

(b) Be responsible for the conduct of basic and applied research and
other scientific innovations;

(c) Assist the Regional Colleges (RCs) and institutes in their
development efforts towards excellence, effectiveness, and
relevance, in instruction, research, and extension or technology
transfer;

(d) Link up with national and international agencies to keep abreast of
the local needs and scientific advances; and

(e) Share its expertise and facilities with the Government and private
sector as far as policy recommendations, program planning and
evaluation, and staff training are concerned.

Section 9. The Regional Colleges (RCs) shall:

(a) Concentrate on Bachelor of Science degrees with reasonable
involvement in the postgraduate and model technology courses;

(b) Focus on adaptive research needed in the region with reasonable
involvement in basic and applied research and verification projects;

(c) Assist technical institutes in strengthening their institutional
capabilities towards relevance, effectiveness, and excellence in

instruction, action research, and technology transfer; and


(d) Link up with and assist government regional offices in planning and
evaluating their programs and in training their staff for agriculture
activities.

Section 10. The Regional Institute of Fisheries Technology shall:

(a) Concentrate on the Diploma in Fisheries Technology designed for
the training of fisheries technicians on technical skills required of the
fisheries industry;

(b) Conduct verification tests of new techniques developed by research
institutions and transfer positive results to field technicians,
fishermen, and fish farmers;

(c) Assist the Fisherman's Training Center of BFAR in planning,
implementing, and evaluating their programs and training; and

(d) Assist high schools with fishery practical arts subjects for the
development of their instructional materials.

Section 11. The Provincial Technical Institutes (PTTs) shall:

(a) Concentrate their curricular programs on technical and technology
courses designed for farming and extension work with reasonable
involvement in selected degree and non-degree post-secondary
advanced technology related courses in agriculture;

(b) Conduct pilot/action research and verification trials to demonstrate
advances in agricultural technology and transfer the same to
technicians and farmers through field days, short courses, and
training programs;

(c) Serve as a learning and technology resource for development
agencies in the province in planning and evaluating programs in
training technicians, small farmers, agricultural producers and
entrepreneurs; and

(d) Extend improved appropriate agricultural technologies to secondary
and vocational high schools.


Section 12. Other Roles and Functions of the Institutions. — \n
addition to their regular roles and functions, all the member institutions
mentioned above shall also serve as the agricultural training centers in their
respective areas and offer continuing and adult education course for related
line agency staffffarmersffisherfolk and community leaders to hasten
technology transfer, improve attitudes towards farming, and inculcate the
importance of agriculture in nation building in support to the Magna Carta for
Small Farmers. It shall also be the function of the institutions to provide
assistance to students in conducting their income-generating projects as well
as placement of their graduates.

Section 13. Agricultural Education Development Council (AEDC). -
The existing Technical Panel for Agricultural Education (TPAE) is hereby
transformed into the Agricultural Education Development Council (AEDC) as
the governing advisory policy body which is autonomous and attached to the
Department of Education (DepEd) with the following composition and functions:
(a) Composition. - The AEDC shall be composed of the following
members to be appointed by the Secretary of Education, Culture and
Sports as its Ex-Officio Chairman:

4) One (1) outstanding scientist, educationist or practitioner from
each of the fields of Crop Science, Animal Science,
Agricultural Engineering, Fisheries, Forestry, Veterinary
Medicine, Agriculture Teacher Education who shall be
nominated by heads of faculties, scientific, or professional
groups for a term of three (3) years, and from among

themselves a Vice-Chairman shall be chosen;
2)

One (1) representative each from the Department of
Agriculture, Department of Environmental and Natural
Resources, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of
Science and Technology, Department of Budget and
Management and the National Economic and Development
Authority;


3)

One (1) representative from the Bureau of Higher Education,

Department of Education, Culture and Sports;

4) One (1) representative from the Professional Regulation
Commission;

5)

One (1) representative from the Federation or Association of
Colleges of Associations; Agriculture in the Philippines; and
One (1) representative from the Fund for Assistance to Private
Education.
(b) Functions.

1) To study and review the overall philosophy and goals of

6)

agriculture and environment education in relation to the
regional, national, and international developments in
agriculture and industry and formulate alternative directions
and plans;

2) To assess and identify the agriculture and environmental
education, training, and employment needs of the country in
consultation with NEDA and other concerned agencies;

3

To undertake policy, educational, and evaluation research
and recommend measures to improve agriculture and
environmental education;

4

To formulate and recommend guidelines and minimum
educational standards with respect to curricula, faculty,
equipment and facilities, library resources, student services,
quality of output and other related criteria which shall be
applicable to all NAES member-institutions;

5)

To develop and implement coordinative and collaborative
mechanism of monitoring and evaluation of activities of NAES;
6)

To establish and operate a Management Information System
(MIS) for the NAES;

7) To provide technical assistance to educational institutions in

the planning, development, and implementation of agriculture


and environmental education programs in cooperation with
appropriate agencies;

8) To receive or recommend grants or both for the funding of
educational research and development following the existing
accounting and auditing manual for research operations;

9) To appoint AEDC staff and employees upon the
recommendation and endorsement of the Executive Director;

10)To formulate implementing rules and regulations of this Act
and recommend the same to the Secretary of Education within
six (6) months after the effectivity of this Act; and

11)To perform such other functions as may be deemed
necessary.

Section 14. Secretariat.— The AEDC shall be assisted by technical and
administrative staff with appointment on permanent status to be headed by an
Executive Director. The Secretariat's office shall be at the University where the
National College of Agriculture is located. The services of a pool of
experts/consultants/resource persons on full-time or part-time status shall be
provided on special detail or secondment subject to the guidelines approved by
AEDC.

Section 15. Budgetary Scheme shall be as follows:

(a) The current appropriations or budgets of the public educational
institutions in the NAES designated as the national colleges and
regional colleges shall continue and shall be modified or adjusted in
succeeding years to meet the standards of the rationalized programs
of the institutions as approved by the Department of Budget and
Management and shall be included in the Annual General
Appropriations Act.

(b) The PTIs/RIFTs in the NAES which are designated or newly created
under this Act shall likewise be provided budgetary support based on
their programs and new staffing pattern as approved by the

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Department of Budget and Management and shall be included in the
Annual General Appropriations Act. Additional institutions that may
be established in the province shall solely be supported by provincial
government funds.

(c) This Act shall hereby allocate a lump sum of Ten Million Pesos
(Php10,000,000.00) per annum for the next ten (10) years and shall
be included in the General Appropriations Act starting the calendar
year following the effectivity of this Act. This fund shall be called as
the Agriculture Education Program Development Fund to support the
development, improvement, and implementation of priority
agriculture education and farmers' entrepreneurial training programs
of NAES member institutions: Provided, that such fund shall be
invested in government bonds and securities and managed by AEDC
using only the interest earnings of the said fund.

(d) The operations of the AEDC shall be funded initially from the DepEd
budget allocation for the Technical Panel for Agricultural Education
(TPAE). Upon the effectivity of this Act, TPAE shall be replaced by
the AEDC and all equipment, qualified personnel, and projects of the
TPAE shall be transferred to AEDC. Subsequently, the initial amount
of at least Five Million Pesos (Php5,000,000.00) shall be allocated
for the AEDC in the General Appropriations Act.

Section 16. Fiduciary, Endowment and Revolving Funds. - The
Fiduciary and Revolving Funds centralized under P.D. 711 are hereby
authorized and reallocated to the institutions in NAES to encourage them
to demonstrate technologies that they develop in their laboratories,
experimental farms and income-generating projects, furthermore
endowment funds shall be authorized to be accumulated in the
institutions, out of any funds generated from unallocated savings,
earnings or from any other external sources to be used as incentives for
professorial chairs, teachers/employees incentives award systems,
faculty fellowship programs and the like. Such funds shall be disbursed

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in accordance with law and guidelines set by AEDEC and the

Commission on Audit.

Approved,