1 
Republic of the Philippines 
House of Representatives 
Constitution Hills, Batasan Complex, Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. ____________ 
Introduced by Representative Alfelito M. Bascug and Representative Eddiebong G. Plaza 
AN ACT 
CONVERTING THE AGUSAN DEL SUR SCHOOL OF ARTS AND TRADES IN THE 
MUNICIPALITY OF PROSPERIDAD, PROVINCE OF AGUSAN DEL SUR, INTO A 
TECHNICAL 
EDUCATION 
AND 
SKILLS 
DEVELOPMENT 
AUTHORITY-
SUPERVISED AND ADMINISTERED POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION TO BE 
KNOWN AS THE “AGUSAN DEL SUR POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE FOR 
TECHNICAL EDUCATION”, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR 
Explanatory Note 
This bill seeks to convert the Agusan del Sur School of Arts and Trades (ASSAT) into 
a polytechnic institute to be known as the Agusan del Sur Polytechnic Institute for Technical 
Education (ADSPITE).  
Agusan del Sur School of Arts and Trades (ASSAT) is a TESDA-administered school 
in the Province of Agusan del Sur.  It is located in Government Center, Prosperidad, Agusan 
del Sur. 
The institution is the primary caterer of basic technical skills among aspiring students 
in Agusan del Sur because of its course offerings and programs. It offers TESDA-registered 
training programs with training regulations leading to National Certification Levels I to IV in 
various sectors:  automotive and land transport; construction; electronics; garments; health, 
social and other community development services; information and communication 
technology; metals and engineering; processed food and beverages; tourism; and TVET 
(Technical Vocational Education and Training). It is a TESDA-accredited competency 
assessment centers for various TVET Qualifications in the above-mentioned sectors. 
The clout for this initiative sprung from the turnover and developments in our education 
sector. With the three major developments that have taken place recently: (1) the passage into 
law of the Philippine Qualifications Framework, (2) the ASEAN Economic Integration, and (3) 
September 9, 2025
9:57 am
4445


2 
the Senior High School Program of DepEd, it becomes necessary for ASSAT to restructure its 
education and curricular landscape and thereby evolve into a polytechnic college in order to 
make it capable to respond to the rapidly changing demands of the industry and the labor 
market.  It cannot continue offering only training programs pegged at the four National 
Certification levels.  As a matter of fact, the first two National Certification levels are now part 
of the Senior High School curriculum in DepEd.   Hence, ASSAT has to upgrade its curricular, 
operational and functional standards as an educational institution that will offer curricular 
programs that meet the requirements set forth in Level 5 of the Philippine Qualification 
Framework, which is the Diploma level.   
The time has now come for ASSAT to evolve from a mere technology training 
institution into a polytechnic institute for technical institution that will cater to knowledge and 
skills that are mainly theoretical and/or abstract with significant depth in some areas together 
with wide-ranging, specialized technical, creative and conceptual skills and the graduates 
competently perform work activities demonstrating breadth, depth and complexity in the 
planning and initiation of alternative approaches to skills and knowledge applications across a 
broad range of technical and/or management requirements, evaluation and coordination. 
This representation indeed believes that the establishment of an educational institution 
in the technical education level known as the Agusan del Sur Polytechnic Institute for Technical 
Education (ADSPITE) as a public higher educational institution will indeed be a great blessing 
for the impoverished high school graduates and other sectors who shall be afforded alternative 
doors to a better life in our province and also to neighboring provinces in the region.  
With the soon-to-be-established-institution, ADSPITE will ultimately provide 
appropriate humanistic, scientific and practical knowledge, inculcate values and attitude, and 
hone skills for nation building to post-secondary students, particularly children of poor 
families, as well as other sectors of the community who aspire to acquire technical education 
and skills training in order to raise their economic sufficiency levels and provide them unfair 
competitive advantage when seeking better employment opportunities. 
The silver lining of hope for these targeted beneficiaries is the establishment of the 
Agusan del Sur Polytechnic Institute for Technical Education dovetailed to the pocketbooks of 
the marginalized but deserving sector of the province of Agusan del Sur. 
This is a re-filed bill from the 19th Congress, and was approved on Third and Final 
Reading and was transmitted to the Senate. Hence, in the light of the foregoing, the immediate 
passage of this bill is earnestly sought.  
    ALFEL M. BASCUG 
           EDDIEBONG G. PLAZA 
1ST District, Agusan del Sur 
           2nd District, Agusan del Sur 


3 
Republic of the Philippines 
House of Representatives 
Constitution Hills, Batasan Complex, Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. ____________ 
Introduced by Representative Alfelito M. Bascug and Representative Eddiebong G. Plaza 
AN ACT 
CONVERTING THE AGUSAN DEL SUR SCHOOL OF ARTS AND TRADES IN THE 
MUNICIPALITY OF PROSPERIDAD, PROVINCE OF AGUSAN DEL SUR, INTO A 
TECHNICAL 
EDUCATION 
AND 
SKILLS 
DEVELOPMENT 
AUTHORITY-
SUPERVISED AND ADMINISTERED POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION TO BE 
KNOWN AS THE “AGUSAN DEL SUR POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE FOR 
TECHNICAL EDUCATION”, AND APPROPRIATING 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 “Agusan del Sur Polytechnic 
Institute for Technical Education (ADSPITE) Act”.   
SEC. 2. Conversion. - The Agusan del Sur School of Arts and Trades (ASSAT) located 
in the Municipality of Prosperidad, Province of Agusan del Sur, is hereby converted into a 
polytechnic institute to be known as the Agusan del Sur Polytechnic Institute for Technical 
Education (ADSPITE), and placed under the supervision and administration of the Technical 
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). 
SEC. 3. General Mandate. – Recent global and regional developments provided the impetus 
to re-engineer the state of technical-vocational  education and accelerate the country’s response 
to the fast changing standards and requirements of the domestic and international job market, 
namely: 1) the adoption of Republic Act No. 10968, or the “Philippine Qualifications 
Framework (PQF) Act”; 2) the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic 
Integration; 3) the global changes in technology and industry demands that have created a major 
need for skilled workforce and technical-vocational competency trainings; 4) the poverty 
reduction, livelihood and employment convergence for community-based livelihood and 
4445


4 
 
“techno-preneurial” skills development; and 5) the imperative to produce world-class Filipino 
“knowledge workers” whose skills are aligned with ASEAN integration goals and other 
international frameworks that respond to the challenges in the job market.  
 
The ADSPITE, as a technical-vocational education institution, shall restructure its 
technical-vocational education and training (TVET) programs to effect this major curricular 
shift as provider of leading edge technical skills for the local and international labor market, 
and aligned in accord with the standards of the industry.  
 
To this end, the ADSPITE shall upgrade its curricular standards as a tertiary TESDA-
polytechnic skills educational institution and provide higher level competency qualifications 
for instruction in TESDA-registered TVET programs and certificate courses. It shall provide a 
wide array of relevant skills training and trade specialization courses to facilitate the acquisition 
by the citizenry of the necessary technical skills that shall enhance their access to gainful 
employment, practical livelihood, and entrepreneurial opportunities, and thus hasten the 
development of the host area and the adjacent localities in the Province of Agusan del Sur into 
human resource and productivity hubs. 
 
Priority admission to the ADSPITE, including availment of scholarships, grants-in-aid and 
other forms of student financial assistance, shall be given to the most economically 
disadvantaged students, out-of-school youths, persons with disabilities, and indigenous peoples 
of the Municipality of Prosperidad and the adjacent localities to ensure their development into 
productive, self-reliant and globally competitive skilled labor assets. 
 
The ADSPITE shall serve as a TESDA-accredited assessment center, subject to the 
accreditation requirements under the Philippine TVET Competency Assessment and 
Certification System for acquired competencies in TVET programs in the Province of Agusan 
del Sur. It shall also provide teachers’ training and curriculum design assistance to the 
secondary schools offering the technical-vocational livelihood track under the K to 12 Program 
in coordination with the Department of Education, the TESDA, and the Department of Labor 
and Employment (DOLE). 
 
 
SEC. 4. Curricular Offerings and Training Programs –The ADSPITE shall offer 
TESDA-registered TVET programs, undergraduate certificate courses, and  short-term courses 
and modular trainings in preferred technical-vocational skills specialization. It shall aim to 
meet the competency requirements under Level V of the PQF Act, which is the Diploma Level 
in TVET.  
 
To this end, the 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 other relevant agencies and instrumentalities, both local and 
international, shall provide the necessary assistance so the ADSPITE can produce skilled 
manpower to supply the needs of a robust and inclusive economy. 
 
The ADSPITE may establish research and technology hubs, technology development 
farms, satellite or extension campuses, as recommended by ASSAT & TESDA, promote mobile 
training programs, and strengthen linkages with industry partners and the academe.  
  


5 
 
 It shall also adopt the use of innovative training modes such as information technology-
assisted instruction, dual training system pursuant to Republic Act No.7686 or the “Dual 
Training System Act of 1994”, open distance learning pursuant to Republic Act No. 10650 or 
the “Open Distance Learning Act”, community laboratory, virtual and blended learning modes, 
and such other instructional programs that shall allow local residents greater access to the 
TVET program offerings of the ADSPITE.    
 
Course completion at the ADSPITE shall be credited through skills competency 
assessment under National Certification Levels III to V. When applicable, TVET competency 
shall qualify a student for academic degree recognition pursuant to Republic Act No. 10647 or 
the “Ladderized Education Act of 2014”, provided that the requirements of the Commission on 
Higher Education are complied with.  
 
The ADSPITE shall offer skills development for higher competency qualifications in 
areas relating to technical industrial education, trade technology, tourism, agricultural 
technology, business literacy, and innovation in TESDA-registered skills, as follows: 
 
(a) Skills training in industrial technology and hard trades such as metal and steelwork, 
machine fabrication and operation, heavy equipment operation, automotive mechanical 
assembly, refrigeration and air conditioning, electronics, and operation of power tools 
and equipment for both medium skills grade and industrial purposes; 
 
(b) Tourism and hospitality-related courses relating to hotel, restaurant, and tourism 
development management; 
 
(c) 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 farming, fishing tools and 
equipment operation, agribusiness, agri-aqua trade technology and innovations, and 
relevant training seminars for farmers and fisherfolk to encourage entrepreneurship and 
thus increase their productivity; 
 
(d) 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;  
 
(e) Basic business literacy training in financial management, marketing, 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 social media business 
marketing; 
 
(f) 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; 
 


6 
 
(g) Computer literacy and information technology-related skills, web development, 
animation (3D Digital), game development, and computer-aided design application; 
 
(h) Social communication skills and language proficiency courses in English and other 
languages for business process outsourcing employment and overseas job placement; 
 
(i) Seminars on personality development, career counseling, job placement, and work ethic 
and values; and  
 
(j) Other preferred skills and trades training that may be needed by the people of the 
Municipality of Prosperidad and the adjacent localities 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 conversion of the ASSAT into the ADSPITE shall become operational 
only upon the issuance by the TESDA of a formal recommendation and certificate of 
compliance attesting that the ADSPITE has satisfactorily complied with the minimum 
standards of quality it has prescribed governing the following: a) standard procedures and 
guidelines for the conversion and operation of a TESDA polytechnic institute; b) operational 
sustainability of the ADSPITE in terms of licensed faculty-trainers and personnel, equipment, 
training and laboratory facilities, instructional materials, and other standard requirements  of a 
TESDA-accredited and supervised school; c) sustainable funding source and regular allocation 
of budgetary  requirement for TESDA-operated schools; d) full alignment of the training 
programs offered with the minimum standards of competency-based quality technical-
vocational technology skills and the needs of the host area and adjacent localities served within 
the context of the ASEAN integration and the PQF for TVET; and e) compliance with such 
other TESDA conditionalities and standards, as may be necessary and applicable, on the 
conversion of the ASSAT into the ADSPITE.  
 
 
SEC. 6. Administration. – The ADSPITE shall be headed by a Vocational School 
Superintendent under the supervision of the TESDA, who shall render full-time service and be 
responsible for its administration and operation.  The Vocational School Superintendent 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 Vocational School Superintendent shall enter into agreement with locally-based 
private and public counterpart agencies or instrumentalities and persons, and seek such 
assistance as may be necessary to effectively implement this Act, subject to the approval of the 
TESDA Director General. 
 
The academic and administrative staff of the ADSPITE shall be organized following 
the staffing pattern of the TESDA for such type of schools, pursuant to existing laws, rules and 
regulations of the Civil Service Commission. 
 
SEC. 7. Assets, Liabilities and Personnel. - All assets, fixed and movable, personnel, 
records and documents, as well as the liabilities or obligations of the ASSAT shall be transferred 
to the ADSPITE: Provided, That the positions, rights and security of tenure of faculty and 
personnel therein employed prior to its conversion into the ADSPITE, shall not be impaired.  
 


7 
 
All parcels of land belonging to the government occupied by the defunct ASSAT are 
henceforth declared the property of the ADSPITE and shall be titled under that name: Provided, 
That should the ADSPITE cease to exist or such aforementioned parcels of land be no longer 
needed by the ADSPITE, the same shall revert to the concerned local government unit (LGU), 
or to the Municipality of Prosperidad, Province of Agusan del Sur. 
     
 
SEC. 8. Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the initial operations of the 
ADSPITE shall be charged against the current year’s appropriations of the ASSAT. Thereafter, 
the funding of which shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act. 
 
SEC. 9. 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. 10. Separability Clause. - If, for any reason, any section or provision 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 in effect. 
 
 
SEC. 11. 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. 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,