Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

Eighteenth Congress
First Regular Session

4935

HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by Representative Wilton “TonTon” T. Kho

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to establish Technical and Skills Development Authority
(TESDA) training and assessment centers in the municipalities of Cataingan,
Cawayan, Dimasalang, Esperanza, Palanas, Pio V. Corpus, Placer and Uson, all
in the Province of Masbate.

As a matter of policy, the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte
pursues national economic development programs designed to diffuse and
equitably distribute opportunities, income and wealth. The government also
seeks the expansion of productivity of goods and services to enhance the quality
of life, especially of those belonging to the underprivileged group.

A practical way of attaining these goals is to provide the people,
especially those in the rural areas, with training in technical-vocational skills,
entrepreneurship, trade and industry and agri-business ventures that will develop
the commitment and participation of the people in community oriented projects.
Bringing the TESDA training and assessment centers closer to the people such
as those residents in the eight municipalities in the Province of Masbate, will
empower the people to engage in gainful employment, and help them become
socially, politically, and economically stable, and productive members of
society.

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



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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

Eighteenth Congress
First Regular Session

4935
HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by Representative Wilton “TonTon” T. Kho

ANACT
ESTABLISHING TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND __ SKILLS
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (TESDA) TRAINING AND
ASSESSMENT CENTERS IN THE MUNICIPALITIES OF CATAINGAN,
CAWAYAN, DIMASALANG, ESPERANZA, PALANAS, PIO V. CORPUS,
PLACER AND USON, ALL IN THE PROVINCE OF MASBATE AND
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Establishment. — There are hereby established Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) training and assessment
centers, hereinafter referred to as Centers, in highly accessible areas in each of
the municipalities of Cataingan, Cawayan, Dimasalang, Esperanza, Palanas, Pio
V. Corpus, Placer and Uson, all in the Province of Masbate, under the
supervision of TESDA, to be known individually as follows: a) Cataingan
TESDA Training and Assessment Center; b) Cawayan TESDA Training and
Assessment Center; c) Dimasalang TESDA Training and Assessment Center;
d) Esperanza TESDA Training and Assessment Center; e) Palanas TESDA

Training and Assessment Center; f) Pio V. Corpus TESDA Training and


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Assessment Center; g) Placer TESDA Training and Assessment Center; and
h) Uson TESDA Training and Assessment Center, respectively.

SEC. 2. General Mandate. — The Centers shall primarily provide
technical-vocational training and skills development programs to students and
residents from low-income families and out-of-school youths, including college
dropouts and persons with disabilities in the municipalities of Cataingan,
Cawayan, Dimasalang, Esperanza, Palanas, Pio V. Corpus, Placer and Uson in
the Province of Masbate, geared towards the acquisition of practical livelihood,
employable skills, gainful employment and entrepreneurship.

The Centers shall train local residents of Masbate and adjacent provinces to
become productive, self-reliant and globally competitive skilled labor force to
hasten the social and economic development of these areas, in particular, and to
meet the manpower needs of both local and international labor markets, in
general.

The Centers shall offer technical-vocational training programs based on the
socioeconomic profile, employment conditions and opportunities, business
climate, market and industry potentials, available resources and presence of
support structures, literacy level and skills readiness, and the overall
development needs of the host area and adjacent provinces. The Centers shall
also consider the relevant skills trade competencies, craftmanship training

programs, and entrepreneurship activities needed to deliver the effective


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employment and development interventions required to make these areas as
human resource and economic productivity hubs.

The Centers shall also serve as TESDA-accredited assessment centers for
acquired competencies in technical-vocational skills. Preference in admission
shall be given to the most disadvantaged citizens, including persons with
disabilities, and to the most economically depressed areas in the Province of
Masbate.

The Centers shall, in coordination with the Department of Education
(DepEd) and the TESDA, render relevant teachers’ training assistance and
curriculum design to the secondary schools offering technical-vocational
livelihood track under the K to 12 Program of the DepEd in Masbate and
adjacent provinces.

SEC. 3. Training Programs. — The Centers shall offer diverse short-term
certificate courses and modular trainings in relevant technical-vocational skill
and trade specialization to comply with employment standards in preferred
market-driven labor opportunities. The Centers shall likewise give premium
efforts to skills specialization for local market employment requirements geared
towards achieving the development needs for a robust inclusive economy of the
host area and each of the adjacent localities and communities within their
operational radius, in consultation with the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of

the Interior and Local Government (DILG), National Economic and


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Development Authority (NEDA), business-industry partners, and such other
relevant agencies, both local and international.

The Centers 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 municipalities of Cataingan,
Cawayan, Dimasalang, Esperanza, Palanas, Pio V. Corpus, Placer and Uson, and
in adjacent areas in the Province of Masbate to strengthen linkages among the
industry, the academe and the technology centers of the province.

To address the development and manpower needs of the host municipalities
and adjacent areas in the Province of Masbate, the Centers shall offer the
following TESDA-registered technical-vocational training programs with
competencies assessment leading to National Certification Levels I-III:

a) Skills training in industrial technology and hard trades such as
metal and steelworks, 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-related trainings and farm skills development in such
areas as farm technology and operations, backyard farming and home-based
aquaculture and propagation innovations, mechanized farm tools and equipment
operations, agribusiness and agri-trade technology and innovations, and relevant

farmers trainings for increased productivity and entrepreneurship;


c) Livelihood skills development courses for preferred skills
employment and small-scale entrepreneurship, including practical skills
education in crafts and arts, workmanship and designing, high speed sewing,
dressmaking and tailoring, horticulture, livestock raising and breeding, food
processing technology, home technology, culinary arts, commercial cooking,
baking, beauty culture, health and wellness training;

d) 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
business marketing;

e) 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 skills courses;

f) Computer literacy and information technology-related skills, digital
technology, web design, animation, photoshop or online photography, computer

design and advertising;


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g) Social communication skills development, language proficiency
courses in English and other languages for business process outsourcing
employment, such as call center and overseas job placement;

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

i) Other preferred priority skills and trades training that may be
needed by the people of the host municipalities and adjacent areas in the
Province of Masbate to enhance their capability for practical livelihood, gainful
employment and entrepreneurship skills.

SEC. 4. Compliance with TESDA Requirements. — The Centers
established herein 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 Centers have
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 in terms of licensed faculty-trainers and
personnel, equipment, training and laboratory facilities, instructional materials,
and other standard requirements as a Center; c) sustainable funding source and
allocation of budget requirement of the Centers hereto established; 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


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the host area and adjacent communities served in the context of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Philippine Qualifications
Framework for technical-vocational education; and e) compliance with such
other TESDA conditionalities and standards as may be necessary and applicable
in establishing a Center.

SEC. 5. Administration. — The Centers shall each 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 Centers.

The Technical-Vocational Administrator of each of the Centers shall be
appointed by the TESDA director general in accordance with Civil Service
Commission rules and regulations and the qualification requirements for such
office.

The technical-vocational administrator of each of the Centers shall enter
into mutual agreements with locally-based private and public counterpart
agencies or instrumentalities and persons, subject to approval by the TESDA
director general, for such assistance as may be necessary to effectively
implement this Act.

SEC. 6. 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 local government units, in consultation with the TESDA,
shall likewise set aside from any available local revenue, an amount deemed
appropriate as annual counterpart fund to support the operations of the Centers
established herein.

SEC. 7. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within ninety (90) days
after the approval of this Act, the TESDA shall, in coordination with the
Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry,
Department of Budget and Management, Department of the Interior and Local
Government, concerned local government units, and such other relevant
agencies and industry-business partners of the host locality, prepare and issue
the necessary rules and regulations for the implementation of this Act.

SEC. 8. 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. 9. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,