Republic of the Philippines Yay
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES fo % 3

Quezon City : GAT BUL_2 6 2022 Fl

Nineteenth Congress
First Regular Session

House pit no. 2330

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE ADRIAN MICHAEL A. AMATONG

EXPLANATORY NOTE,

‘The Municipality of Labason is a third-class municipality in the Province of
Zamboanga del Norte. It has a huge potential for economic growth and development,
considering its agriculture and fisheries production and the ongoing infrastructure
projects undertaken by the national and local government in the area. A high school
focused on agriculture and fisheries, namely the Kipit Agro-Fishery High School, is also
located in Labason. What must be further enhanced, however, is the expansion of the
commercial and industrial activities in the municipality.

To achieve this goal, the residents of the municipality and the nearby localities
must be provided with the necessary skills and proficiencies in the different technical
and vocational crafts or professions, and must innovate their existing knowledge of
agriculture and aquaculture. In so doing, the residents, particularly the graduating
high school students, out-of-school youth, and those coming from low-income families,
will be given opportunities for entrepreneurship and gainful employment not only
locally but also abroad.

Thus, this bill seeks to establish a Technical Education Skills Development
Authority (TESDA) Training and Assessment Center in the Municipality of Labason
Province of Zamboanga del Norte. The Center will train residents of the municipality
and the nearby localities and equip them with the necessary skills they need for their
chosen craft or profession.

This is in line with the policy of the State, under Republic Act No. 7796, otherwise
known as the Technical Education and Skills Development Act of 1994, to provide
“relevant, accessible, high quality, and efficient technical education and skills
development in support of the development of high quality Filipino middle-level
manpower responsive to and in accordance with Philippine development goals and
priorities.”

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

romp dn AMATONG


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

Nineteenth Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 233

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE ADRIAN MICHAEL A. AMATONG

AN ACT
ESTABLISHING A TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY (TESDA) TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT CENTER IN THE
MUNICIPALITY OF LABASON, PROVINCE OF ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE,
TO BE KNOWN AS THE LABASON, ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE
TESDA TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT CENTER,
AND APROPRIATING 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 ‘Labason,
Zamboanga del Norte TESDA Training and Assessment Center Act”.

SEC. 2. Establishment. - There is hereby established a Technical Education
and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Training and Assessment Center in
the Municipality of Labason, Province of Zamboanga del Norte, under the
supervision of the TESDA, to be known as the Labason, Zamboanga del Norte
Training and Assessment Center. It shall be established in a highly accessible
location in the Municipality of Labason, Province of Zamboanga del Norte,
pursuant to the purpose of this Act and to the mutual agreement between
TESDA and the concerned local governed units (LGUs).

SEC. 3. General Mandate. - The Labason, Zamboanga del Norte TESDA
Training and Assessment Center, hereinafter referred to as the Center, shall
primarily provide technical-vocational education and training (TVET) programs
to students, local residents from low-income families, and out-of-school youth,
including persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples, in the Municipality
of Labason and adjacent localities, towns, and communities in the 3"' District
of Zamboanga del Norte, to help them become productive, self-reliant and
globally competitive labor assets.

The Center shall offer training programs on relevant skills trade
competencies, craftsmanship, and entrepreneurship activities needed to deliver
the effective employment interventions that will hasten the development of the


host areas and the adjacent localities in the Province of Zamboanga del Norte
into human resource and productivity hubs.

The Center shall serve as TESDA-accredited Assessment Center for
acquired competencies in TVET programs in the entire Municipality of Labason,
including its neighboring municipalities in the Province of Zamboanga del Norte
benefitted by the Center. It shall provide teachers’ training and curriculum
design assistance to the secondary schools offering the technical-vocational
livelihood (TVL) track under the K to 12 Program in coordination with the
Department of Education (DepED) and the TESDA.

SEC. 4. 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 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
inclusive economy in the host areas and adjacent localities.

The Center may establish research and technology hubs, technology
development farms, satellite or extension training centers, and promote mobile
training programs to strengthen linkages among the industry partners, the
academe, and the Center geared towards the acquisition of practical livelihood,
employable skills, gainful employment, and entrepreneurship in priority areas
in the Municipality of Labason and neighboring localities in the Province of
Zamboanga del Norte.

The Center shall offer the following TVET programs with competencies
assessment leading to National Certification Levels I-III:

(a) 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 farm, fishing tools and equipment operation,
agribusiness, agri-aqua trade technology and innovations, and
relevant farmers and fisherfolk’s trainings for increased productivity
and entrepreneurship;

(b) Skills training in industrial technology and hard trades such as metal
and steelwork, 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;

(c) 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;

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

(e

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

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

(g) Social communication skills and language proficiency courses in
English and other languages for business processing outsourcing
employment and overseas job placement;

(h) Seminars on personality development, career counseling and 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 Labason and of the adjacent localities in
the Province of Zamboanga del Norte 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 Center 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 Center has satisfactorily
complied with the minimum requirements for quality standards prescribed by
TESDA governing the following competency assessment: (a) standard
procedures and guidelines (SPGs) 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)
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) Integration and the
Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF) for TVT; and (e) compliance with


such other TESDA conditionalities and standards as may be necessary and
applicable in establishing a Center.

SEC. 6. Administration. - The Center shall be headed by a Technical-
Vocational Administrator who shall render full-time 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 shall 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. 7. Appropriations. - The TESDA Director General 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. 8. 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, 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. 9. Separability Clause. - If, for any reason, any section or provision of
this Act shall be deemed unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or
provisions thereof shall not be affected and shall remain in force and in effect.

SEC. 10. 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. 11. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,