Republic of the Philippines

House of Representatives
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Eighteenth Congress
First Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO.5131

Introduced by Representative Hector S. Sanchez

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to Convert the Cabugao School of Handicraft and Cottage
Industries into a polytechnic institute to be known as Catanduanes Polytechnic Skills
Development Institute that is supervised by the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA).

The Cabugao School of Handicraft and Cottage Industries is located in
Barangay Cabugao, Municipality of Bato, Catanduanes and was founded in 1970 to
provide technical-vocational education to the people of Cabugao and the
adjacent barangays. Since 1970, the Cabugao School of Handicraft and Cottage
Industries has evolved from a secondary vocational high school to a post-secondary
School. In 1997, it was absorbed by TESDA and became the only TESDA-administered
school in the Province of Catanduanes offering skills training programs to all eleven
towns of the province.

Cabugao School of Handicraft and Cottage Industries has a vision of
becoming a strong and reliable institution providing technical-vocational education
to the people of Catanduanes. It aims to address the skills requirements of women,
out-of-school youth, unemployed adults, wage eamers, returning overseas Filipino
workers, drug-dependent surrenderers, inmates, and detainees in order to promote
their welfare and economic well-being.

The rapidly changing demands of the industry and the labor market at both
the domestic and global market, makes it imperative for the Cabugao School of
Handicraft and Cottage Industries to convert into a polytechnic institute and effect


a major curricular program shift towards the development of world-class Filipino
workforce equipped with practical and technical skills of global competence
responsive to labor-driven skills demand at both the domestic and global market.
The change in its curricular program will allow the Catanduanes Polytechnic Skills
Development Institute to offer a wide-array of one-year to three-year TESDA-
registered technical-vocational curricular skills training programs and certificate
courses relevant to the needs of the people of Catanduanes. This measure aims to
enable the proposed Catanduanes Polytechnic Skills Development Institute to meet,
as a long-term goal, the maximum competency requirements under Level V of the
Philippine Qualifications Framework, which is the diploma level in technical
vocational education.

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

HECTOR S. SANCHEZ


Republic of the Philippines

House of Representatives
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Eighteenth Congress
First Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO.5131

Introduced by Representative Hector S. Sanchez

AN ACT
CONVERTING THE CABUGAO SCHOOL OF HANDICRAFT AND COTTAGE INDUSTRIES
INTO A POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE TO BE KNOWN AS CATANDUANES POLYTECHNIC SKILLS.
DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE 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.”

SECTION 2. Conversion. - The Cabugao Schoo! of Handicraft and Cottage
Industries is converted into a polytechnic institute to be known as the Catanduanes
Polytechnic Skills Development Institute, hereinafter referred to as the Institute, under
the direct administration and supervision of the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA).


The existing campus of the Cabugao School of Handicraft and Cottage
Industries in Cabugao, Bato, Catanduanes shall serve as the main campus of the
Institute. The following TESDA Training Centers in Catanduanes, namely the PAVIBA
Training Center in Viga, Catanduanes, PANCAR Training Center in Pandan,
Catanduanes, and the BOSSTE Training Center in San Andres in Catanduanes, are
converted into extension campuses of the Institute.

SECTION 3. General Mandate. - With the recent major developments
challenging the Philippine higher and technical skills education priorities and
mandates, namely: (a) the adoption of the Philippine Qualifications Framework
{PQF); (b) the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic integration;
and (c) the rapidly changing demands of the industry and the labor market at both
the domestic and global market, it becomes imperative for the Cabugao School of
Handicraft and Cottage Industries to convert into a technical-vocational education
institute to effect a major curricular program shift towards the development of world-
class Filipino workforce equipped with practical and technical skills of global
competence in programs responsive to labor-driven skills demand at both the
domestic and global market, and aligned with the ASEAN integration framework and
other relevant international agreements for technical-vocational education.

The Institute shall offer practical specialty courses in tourism, entrepreneurship,
engineering, electrical and electronics, garments, agriculture, building and
construction, and other related trade industry, as well as higher level competency
qualifications in technical industrial education, and trade technology. It shall
upgrade its curricular standards as a tertiary TESDA-polytechnic institution that caters
to wide-ranging specialized technical skills courses and competency-compliant
practical knowledge application.

The Institute shall offer a wide-array of one-year to three-year TESDA-registered
technical-vocational curricular skills training programs and certificate courses, and
shall aim to meet, as a long-term goal, the maximum competency requirements


under Level V of the PQF, which is the diploma level in technical-vocational
education. It shall provide tertiary undergraduate technical-vocational education,
and shall provide the various skills trainings and trade specialization geared towards
the acquisition of employable skills, gainful employment, practical livelihood and
entrepreneurship relevant to the needs of the province.

The Institute shall play a pivotal role in helping the students and out-of-school
youth and residents from low-income families, including persons with disabilities, in
the Municipality of Bato and its adjacent municipalities in the Province of
Catanduanes, to become productive, self-reliant and globally competitive middle
to high-level skilled labor force that will hasten the social and economic
development of the Province of Catanduanes, in particular, as well as meet the
manpower placement needs of both local and international labor market, in
general.

In the design of relevant technical-vocational training programs and courses
to be offered, the Institute shall consider a competency assessment of the
socioeconomic profile, employment conditions and opportunities, business climate,
market and industry potentials, resources available and presence of support
structures, including the literacy level and skills readiness, and the overall
development needs of the host area and adjacent communities within the
operational radius of the Institute established hereto. The Institute shall likewise
consider the relevant skills and trade competencies, craftmanship training programs
and entrepreneurship activities needed to deliver the effective employment and
development interventions required to make the Municipality of Bato and all
localities comprising the Province of Catanduanes as human resource capital and
economic productivity hubs.

The Institute shall serve as a TESDA-accredited assessment center for acquired
competencies in technical-vocational skills in the entire Province of Catanduanes.
Admission to the Institute and priority availment of technical-vocational education


including scholarships and grants-in-aid, shall be given to the most disadvantaged
citizens of the Municipality of Bato and to the most economically depressed areas in
the province.

Further, as deemed necessary and practicable, in coordination with the
Department of Education (DepEd) and TESDA, the Institute shall render relevant
teacher's training assistance and curriculum design to the secondary schools offering
technical-vocational livelihood track under the K to 12 Program of the DepEd in the
communities and areas in the Province of Catanduanes within the operational radius
of the Institute.

SECTION 4. Curricular Offerings and Training Programs. — The Institute shall offer
one-year to three-year technical-vocational courses and undergraduate certificate,
including short-term courses and modular trainings in diverse relevant technical-
vocational and industrial technology education to comply with employment
standards in preferred market-driven labor opportunities, but shall give premium
efforts to skills specialization for local employment requirements geared towards
achieving the development needs for a robust inclusive economy of the Municipality
of Bato and the other local governments in the Province of Catanduanes within the
operational radius of the Institute, in consultation with the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Interior
and Local Government (DILG), National Economic and Development Authority
(NEDA), business-industry partners, and such other relevant agencies, both local and
international.

The Institute may establish, as deemed necessary and practicable, research
and technology hubs, mobile training programs, and satellite or extension training
centers in priority areas throughout the Province of Catanduanes to strengthen
linkages among the industry, the academe, and the technology programs thereat.


The Institute may offer the following TESDA-registered technical-vocational
courses and short-term training programs with skills regulations and competencies
assessment leading to National Certification Levels | to V, as applicable, to address
the development and manpower needs of all localities in the entire Province of
Catanduanes within the operational radius of the Institute, while offering options for
higher level competency qualifications in technical industrial education, trade
technology, and innovation, to increase the livelihood assets and competitive
productivity, to wit:

(a)Agriculture and aquaculture-related trainings and skills development in
such areas as farming-fishing operations technology, backyard farming
and home-based aquaculture and propagation innovations, mechanized
farm and fishing tools and equipment operation, agribusiness, agri-aqua
trade technology and innovations, and relevant farmers and fisherfolk
continuing trainings for increased productivity and entrepreneurship;

(b) Skills training in industrial technology and hard trades such as metal and
steel works, 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 preferred skills;

(c) Tourism and hospitality-related courses relating to hotel, restaurant and
tourism development and management, including personality
development and social communication skills training, language
proficiency courses in English and other language competence for business
outsourcing or call center employment and overseas job placement;

(d) Livelihood skills development courses for preferred skills employment, small-
scale income generating opportunities and entrepreneurship training,
including practical skills education in crafts and arts, workmanship and
designing such as fabric, woodwork, jewelry and metalwork; high speed
sewing, dressmaking and tailoring; horticulture, livestock raising and
breeding; food processing technology, home technology, culinary arts and


commercial cooking, including baking; beauty culture including
cosmetology, hair and nail styling; health and weliness trainings;

(e) 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 for business marketing;

(

Technical-vocational occupation and trade skills such as carpentry,

masonry, plumbing, practical electricity and installation, automotive

technician and servicing, electronics technician and servicing, welding
technician, personal computer servicing, and such other relevant practical
technical skills courses;

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

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

(i) Other preferred priority skills and trades training courses relevant to the

needs of the people of the Municipality of Bato and the other localities

served within the operational radius of the Institute and the whole Province
of Catanduanes to enhance their capacities for livelihood, gainful
employment and practical entrepreneurship skills.

SECTION 5. Compliance with TESDA Requirements. — The provisions of this Act
notwithstanding, the Catanduanes Polytechnic Skills Development Institute
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 Institute has satisfactorily complied with
the minimum requirements and quality standards prescribed by TESDA


governing the following: (a) standard procedures and guidelines for the
establishment, or conversion and operation of TESDA polytechnic institute of
technical education and TESDA technology institution; (b) operational
sustainability of the polytechnic institute including licensed faculty-trainors and
personnel, equipment, training and laboratory facilities, instructional materials,
and other standard requirements; (c) sustainable funding source and
allocation of budget requirement of the polytechnic institute; (d) assurance
that the training programs offered are fully aligned with the minimum
standards of competency-based quality technical-vocational skills technology
and needs of the host municipality and adjacent areas in the Province of
Catanduanes in the context of the ASEAN and PQF framework for technical-
vocational education; and (e) compliance with such other conditionalities as
may be necessary and applicable.

The Institute shall not offer undergraduate higher education courses
without prior approval of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and
upon its compliance with the minimum requirements stipulated in CHED
Memorandum Order No. 46, Series of 2012, to operate as a college or higher
education institution. The Institute shall remain under the supervision and
administration of the TESDA and shall continue to offer one-year to three-year
technical-vocational course in the field of tourism, entrepreneurship,
engineering, electrical and electronics, garments, agriculture, building and
construction, and other related trade industry, and such other relevant
technical-vocational curricular programs and other related courses to meet
the needs of the province as a whole.

SECTION 6. Administration. — The Institute shall be headed by a School
Superintendent under the supervision of the TESDA, and appointed by the
TESDA Director-General in accordance with civil service rules and regulations
and the qualification requirements and standards for such office.


The School Superintendent shall render full-time service and shall be
responsible for the administration and operation of the Institute. The duties and
responsibilities of the School Superintendent shall follow the position
qualification standard of TESDA for such office.

Subject to approval by the TESDA Director-General, the School
Superintendent herein appointed may enter into mutual agreements with
loca-based counterpart agencies or instrumentalities and persons, both
private and government, 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.

SECTION 7. Assets, Liabilities and Personnel. - All assets, fixed and
movable, personnel, records and documents of the Cabugao School of
Handicraft and Cottage Industries as well as its liabilities or obligations are
transferred to the Institute. The positions, rights and security of tenure of faculty
and personnel therein employed pursuant to existing laws prior to its conversion
into the Institute shall not be impaired.

All parcels of land belonging to the government occupied by the
Cabugao School of Handicraft and Cottage Industries, including its three
extension campuses in Viga, Pandan, and San Andres, are declared property
of the Institute and shall be titled under the name of the Institute. In case the
Institute ceases 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 in the Province of Catanduanes.


SECTION 8. Appropriations. - The amount needed to initially implement
the provisions of this Act shall be charged against the current year's
appropriations of the Cabugao School of Handicraft and Cottage Industries.
Thereafter, such amount necessary for the continued operation of the Institute
shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

The Province of Catanduanes, the municipalities of Bato, Viga, Pandan,
and San Andres, in consultation with the TESDA, shall likewise set aside from any
available local revenue an amount deemed appropriate as support to the
operation of the Institute established herein.

SECTION 9. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within ninety (90) days
after the approval of this Act, the TESDA, in coordination with the DOLE, DTI,
DA, DILG, Department of Budget and Management, the concerned LGUs, and
such other relevant agencies and industry-business partners of the host locality
shall prepare and issue the necessary rules and regulations for the effective
implementation of this Act.

SECTION 10. Separability Clause. - If any part or provision of this Act is
declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions or parts hereof
shall not be affected and shall remain in force and in effect.

SECTION 11. Repealing Clause. - All laws, executive orders, decrees,
instructions, rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with any provision

of this Act are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

SECTION 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,