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” TIME: Jiffan 2

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 7173

Introduced by REP. MERCEDES K. ALVAREZ, MNSA

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Sec. 2 (5), Art. XIV of the 1987 Constitution mandates the State to provide skills training for
adult citizens. Towards this end, Congress enacted Republic Act No. 7796 in 1994 which
created the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) “to provide
relevant, accessible, high quality and efficient technical education and skills development.”

Sec. 20 of Republic Act No. 7796 directs TESDA to strengthen the network of national,
regional and local skills training centers vocational and technical schools, technical institutes,
polytechnic colleges, and all other duly accredited public and private dual system educational
institutions. Accordingly, TESDA has accredited various technical and vocational institutions
(TVD) in Negros Occidental to provide technical vocational education and training (TVET),
and authorized several institutions to assess TVET graduates/candidates for national
certification.

This bill seeks to establish a TESDA training and assessment center in Sipalay City to widen
access to TVET programs in said City and neighboring localgovernment units. A TESDA
training and assessment center in Sipalay City will bring TVET programs closer to the people,
‘open up new opportunities for gainful employment and livelihood, and contribute to poverty
alleviation.

Through TVET programs, people of Sipalay City will develop new skill sets and enable them
to acquire jobs and ear higher income.

This bill also envisions that the Sipalay City TESDA training and assessment center will offer
courses that will enhance digital literacy which will equip them with technical and cognitive
skills to become competitive in a digital economy and adapt to the demands of the Fourth
Industrial Revolution.

In view of the foregoing, the approval of this bill is coum sought

ATTY. wi Coed a ALVAREZ, MNSA

* Sec. 2, Republic Act No. 7796

? 2020 Census of Population and Housing, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
3.2018 Municipal and City Level Small Area Poverty Estimates. PSA.

“2009 Municipal and City Level Small Area Poverty Estimates. PSA


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL no7173

Introduced by REP. MERCEDES K. ALVAREZ, MNSA.

AN ACT
ESTABLISHING A TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY (TESDA) TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT CENTER IN THE CITY OF
SIPALAY, PROVINCE OF NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE
SIPALAY 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 “Sipalay City TESDA
Training and Assessment Center Act”

SEC. 2. Establishment, — There is hereby established a Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA) Training and ment Center in City of Sipalay,Province
of Negros Occidental, under the supervision of the TESDA, to be known as the Sipalay TESDA
Training and Assessment Center. It shall be established in a highly accessiblelocation in the
City of Sipalay, Province of Negros Occidental, pursuant to the purposes of this Act and to the
mutual agreement between the TESDA and the concerned localgovernment units (LGUs).

SEC. 3. General Mandate. ~ The Sipalay TESDA Training and Assessment Center,
hereinafter referred to as the Center, shall primarily provide technical-vocational education and
training (TVET) programs to students and local residents from low-income families and out-
of-school youths, including persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples, in the City of
Sipalay and the rest of the localities comprising the Sixth Congressional District of the Province
of Negros Occidental to help them become productive, self-reliant andglobally competitive
labor assets

The Center shall offer training programs on relevant skills trade competencies,
crafismanship, and entrepreneurship activities needed to deliver the effective employment
interventions that will hasten the development of the host area and adjacent localities in the
Province of Negros Occidental into human resource and productivity hubs.

The Center shall serve as a TESDA-accredited Assessment Center for acquired
competencies in TVET programs in the City of Sipalay and other cities and municipalities of
theProvince of Negros Occidental. 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.



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 the Interior and Local Government (DILG), National Economic and Development Authority
(NEDA), business-industry partners, and such 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 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 throughout the City of Sipalay and in adjacent areasin the
Sixth District of the Province of Negros Occidental,

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

(a) 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;

(b) 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 and agri-aqua trade technology and innovations, and
relevant farmers and  fisherfolks' trainings for increased productivity and
entrepreneurship,

(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;

(@) Basic business literacy training in financial management and 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 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 servicing, and such other relevant practical
skills courses;


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

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

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

(i) Other preferred skills and trades training that may be needed by the people of the City
of Sipalay, and other areas in the Province of Negros Occidental 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 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 the TESDA governing the following competency assessment

(a) Standard procedures and guidelines 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 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 for TVET; and

(¢) Compliance with such other TESDA conditions 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, 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 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 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

SEC. 7. Appropriations. ~ The amount necessary to implement the provisions of this
Act, and its continued implementation thereafter, shall be included in the annual General
Appropriations Act.

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, 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 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 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,