Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bilt No. 42

(TRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE PAUL RUIZ DAZA==—

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Specifically on education, Article XIV, Section 1 of the Constitution mandates: “The State shall
protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate
steps to make such education accessible to all.”

This bill seeks to convert the Balicuatro College of Arts and Trades (BCAT) in Allen, Northern
‘Samar into the Northern Samar Polytechnic Institute.

Balicuatro is the area in the northwestern part of Samar Island.' Situated in Northern Samar, it
consists of the mainland municipalities of Allen, Lavezares, San Isidro and Victoria and the island towns
of San Antonio, Capul, and San Vicente. Allen, where BCAT is located, is 44 kilometers from Catarman,
the provincial capital of the province.

‘The conversion to a Polytechnic Institute will provide the people of Northem Samar relevant
technical and vocational programs. It will result in diverse employment opportunities in domestic and
international labor markets. Further, kit will highly contribute as an economic stimulus in the province.

Thus, the early passage of this bill is eamestly requested.

' Northern Samar is one of the three provinces into which Samar island is divided, the other two being Samar and Eastem.
‘Samar. The island is the third biggest in the Philippine archipelago, next only to Luzon and Mindanao,


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No._ 42

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE PAUL RUIZ DAZA

“AN ACT
CONVERTING THE BALICUATRO COLLEGE OF ARTS AND TRADES IN THE
MUNICIPALITY OF ALLEN, PROVINCE OF NORTHERN SAMAR, INTO THE
NORTHERN SAMAR POLYTECHNIC 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 “Northern Samar Polytechnic
Institute (NSPI) Act.”

SEC. 2. Conversion. - The Balicuatro College of Arts and Trades in the Municipality of Allen,
Province of Northem Samar, is hereby converted into a polytechnic institute, to be known as the
Norther Samar Polytechnic Institute (NSPI), hereinafter referred to as the Institute, under the
supervision and administration of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
It shall be established in a highly accessible location in the Municipality of Allen, Province of Northem
Samar, pursuant to the purposes of this Act, and to the mutual agreement of the TESDA and the
concemed local government unit (LGU).

SEC. 3. General Mandate. - In line with the adoption of the Philippine Qualifications
Framework (PQF) and the Senior High School Program of the Department of Education (DepEd), the
Institute shall endeavor to restructure its technical-vocational education and training (TVET) curricular
programs to make them responsive to the rapidly changing demands of the industry and the labor market
in both the domestic and global fronts, and within the context of the mutual recognition arrangements
embodied in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic integration framework
and other relevant international agreements for technical-vocational education.

The Institute shall endeavor to offer higher level competency qualifications in TVET programs
and shall continue to upgrade its curricular standards as a TESDA polytechnic educational institution
that caters to wide-ranging specialized technical, creative and conceptual knowledge and skills
demonstrating depth and complexity in the planning, evaluation, initiation and management of
approaches to competency compliant technical skills and functional knowledge application.

The Institute shall offer a wide array of one (1)-year to three (3)-year TESDA-registered TVET
programs and certificate courses, and shall aim to meet the competency requirements under Level V of
the PQF, which is the Diploma Level in TVET. It shall primarily provide undergraduate technical-
vocational education, and shall likewise ensure the provision of various skills trainings and trade
specialization courses relevant to the needs of the province, specifically geared towards the acquisition
of employable skills, gainful employment, practical livelihood and entrepreneurship.


The Institute shall play a lead role in helping students and out-of-school youths and residents
from low-income families and persons with disabilities in the Municipality of Allen and adjacent
‘municipalities in the Province of Northem Samar become productive and self-reliant, and to become
part of a globally competitive middle to high-level skilled labor force to hasten the social and economic
development of the Province of Northem Samar, in particular, as well as meet the manpower needs of
both local and international labor markets, in general.

The Institute shall consider in the design of relevant TVET training programs and course
offerings 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, Allen, and adjacent communities within the operational radius of the Institute. It shall
likewise consider the relevant skills and trade competencies, craftsmanship training programs and
entrepreneurship activities needed to deliver the effective employment and development interventions
required to make Allen and all localities comprising the Province of Northern Samar human resource
and economic productivity hubs.

The Institute shall also serve as a TESDA-accredited Assessment Center for acquired
competencies in technical-vocational skills in the entire Province of Northern Samar.

Priority admission to the Institute, including scholarships, grants-in-aid and student financial
assistance, however, shall be given to the most disadvantaged citizens of the Municipality of Allen and
to the most economically depressed areas in the province.

Further, as deemed necessary and practicable, in coordination with the DepEd and the TESDA,
the Institute shall render relevant teachers’ training assistance and curriculum design offering the
technical-vocational livelihood (TVL) track under the DepEd and TESDA in the communities and areas
within the operational radius of the Institute.

SEC. 4. Curricular Offering/ Training Programs. - The Institute shall offer one (1)-year to three
(3)-year diploma 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,
however, to skills specialization for local market employment requirements geared towards achieving
the development needs for a robust inclusive economy of the Municipality of Allen and the other
municipalities in the Province of Northern Samar, in coordination with the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of the Interior and
Local Government (DILG), the National Economic and Development Authority, business-industry
partners, and such other relevant agencies.

The Institute may establish research and technology hubs, mobile training programs, and satellite
or extension training centers in priority areas throughout the Province of Norther Samar to strengthen
linkages among industry, the academe, and the technology programs of the Institute. It shall likewise
adopt the use of innovative training modes such as information technology-assisted instruction, dual
learning system, open distance learning, community laboratory, and such other instructional programs
to afford the community greater access to TVET and other skills training programs.

The Institute shall offer TESDA-registered TVET courses and short-term training programs.
Course completion in these programs shall be credited through skills competency assessment under
National Certification (NC) Levels I to V, as applicable, and shall further qualify for academic
recognition under the Ladderized Interface System for tertiary education, if compliant with the
requirements under the said program.

‘The Institute shall offer skills development options for higher competency qualifications in
technical-industrial education, trade technology, tourism, agricultural technology, business literacy, and
innovation in TESDA-registered skills courses 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. 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 tools and equipment operation,
agribusiness and agri-aqua trade technology and innovations, and relevant farmers and
fisherfolks’ trainings for increased productivity and entrepreneurship;

¢. 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, 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, and work ethic
and values, and

i. Other preferred priority skills that may be needed by the people of Allen and relevant to the
needs of the other service areas in the Province of Northern Samar to enhance their capacities
for practical livelihood, gainful employment and entrepreneurship skills.

SEC. 5. Compliance with TESDA Requirements. - The provisions of this Act notwithstanding,
the conversion of the Balicuatro College of Arts and Trades into the Northem Samar Polytechnic
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 for standards of quality prescribed by the
TESDA goveming the following: (a) Standard procedures and guidelines for the establishment, or
conversion and operation of a polytechnic institute; (b) Operational sustainability of the Institute in
terms of licensed faculty/trainers and personnel, equipment, training and laboratory facilities,
instructional materials, and other standard requirements as an Institute; (c) Sustainable funding source
and allocation of budget requirement of the Institute; (d) Full alignment of the training programs offered
with the minimum standards of competency-based quality technical-vocational skills technology and
needs of the host municipality, Allen, and adjacent areas served within the context of the PQF and
ASEAN framework for technical-vocational education; and (e) Compliance with such other TESDA
conditionalities as may be necessary and applicable in its conversion into the Northem Samar
Polytechnic Institute,


SEC. 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 the rules
and regulations of the Civil Service Commission and the qualification requirements and standards for
such office

The School Superintendent shall render full-time services and be responsible for the
administration and operation of the Institute.

‘The academic and administrative staff of the Institute shall be organized according to the staffing
pattern prescribed by the TESDA for such type of schools pursuant to existing laws, rules and
regulations.

SEC. 7. Assets, Liabilities and Personnel. - All assets, fixed and movable, personnel, records
and documents of the Balicuatro College of Arts and Trades, as well as liabilities or obligations, shall
be transferred to the Institute: Provided, That 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 Balicuatro College of Arts and
Trades are hereby declared property of the Northern Samar Polytechnic Institute and shall be titled under
that name: Provided, That, should the Institute cease to exist or such aforementioned parcels of land be
no longer needed by the Institute, the same shall revert to the LGU concemed, or to the Municipality of
Allen, Province of Northern Samar.

SEC. 8. Appropriations. - The amount needed to initially implement the provisions of this Act
shall be charged against the current year’s appropriations of the Balicuatro College of Arts and Trades.
‘Thereafter, such amount as may be necessary for the continued operation of the Northem Samar
Polytechnic Institute shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 9. Implementing Rales and Regulations. - Within ninety (90) days after the approval of
this Act, the TESDA, in coordination with the DOLE, DTI, Department of Budget and Management,
DILG, the concemed 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.

SEC. 10. 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 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,