Republic of the Philippines

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DATE _2 8 J 707°
Quezon City TIME oe

‘TWENTIETH CONGRESS

13

HOUSE BILL

Introduced by REP. JAVIER MIGUEL L. BENITEZ

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
(VI) 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 the Municipality of
Murcia to widen access to TVET programs in said municipality and neighboring local
government units. A TESDA training and assessment center in Murcia will bring TVET
programs closer to the people of Murcia, open up new opportunities for gainful employment
and livelihood, and contribute to poverty alleviation.

Murcia, with a population of 88,8682, has poverty incidence of 21.3 percent in 2018, virtually
unchanged from 21.6 percent in 2009.‘ Through TVET programs, Murciahanons will develop
new skill sets and enable them to acquire jobs and earn higher income

This bill also envisions that the Murcia TESDA training and assessment center will offer
courses that will enhance digital literacy which will equip Murciahanons 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 earnestly sought.

JAY! HIGUEL L. ITEZ

—_—
1 Sec. 2, Republic Act No. 7796

22020 Gensus of Population and Housing. Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
3.2018 Municipal and City Level Small Area Poverty Estimates. PSA.

42009 Municipal and City Level Small Area Poverty Estimates. PSA.


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City
TWENTIETH CONGRESS

HOUSE BILL No._313

Introduced by REP. JAVIER MIGUEL L. BENITEZ

AN ACT
ESTABLISHING A TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY (TESDA) TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT CENTER IN THE
MUNICIPALITY OF MURCIA, PROVINCE OF NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, TO BE
KNOWN AS THE MURCIA 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 “Murcia 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 Municipality of Murcia,
Province of Negros Occidental, under the supervision of the TESDA, to be known as the
Murcia TESDA Training and Assessment Center. It shall be established in a highly accessible
location in the Municipality of Murcia, Province of Negros Occidental, pursuant to the
purposes of this Act and to the mutual agreement between the TESDA and the concerned local
government units (LGUs).

SEC. 3. General Mandate. - The Murcia 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
Municipality of Murcia and the rest of the localities comprising the Third Congressional
District of the Province of Negros Occidental 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 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 Municipality of Murcia and other municipalities of the
Province 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 Municipality of Murcia and in adjacent areas
in the Third District of the Province of Negros Occidental

‘The Center shall offer the following TVET programs with competencies assessment
leading to National Certification Levels 1-111

(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:

(d) 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,


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.

The concerned LGU, 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 Murcia TESDA Training and Assessment 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, concemed 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,