Cagayan De Oro Polytechnic Institute Act

CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES TWENTIETH CONGRESS First Regular Session HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H. No. 8579 BY REPRESENTATIVES RODRIGUEZ (R.), RODRIGUEZ (M.), ACIDRE, LIBANAN, FRESNEDI, ORETA, ESCUDERO, ALANO, AGYAO, CORVERA, GARCIA (K.H.), SAGARBARRIA, LUMAYAG, GATCHALIAN, DAZA, CENDAÑA, MONTES, LOPEZ, BAUTISTA (J.M.), AMANTE, RODRIGUEZ (E.), CALDERON, AMATONG, SAN FERNANDO, SALVADOR, VERGARA, ELAGO, ROMAN, DIOKNO, CO AND SUANSING (M.A.) AN ACT CONVERTING THE CAGAYAN DE ORO (BUGO) SCHOOL OF ARTS AND TRADES IN THE CITY OF CAGAYAN DE ORO INTO A POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION TO BE KNOWN AS THE "CAGAYAN DE ORO 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 "Cagayan de Oro

Polytechnic Institute Act."

SEC. 2. Conversion. - The Cagayan de Oro School of Arts and Trades (COBSAT)

located in the City of Cagayan de Oro, Province of Misamis Oriental, is hereby converted into a polytechnic institute under the supervision and administration of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). It shall be known as the "Cagayan de Oro Polytechnic Institute (COPI)", hereinafter referred to as the Institute.

SEC. 3. General Mandate. - The Institute shall restructure its technical-vocational

education and training (TVET) curricular programs to respond to the needs of the local and international labor markets, for technical-vocational skills, and align curriculum with current international skill standards. To this end, the Institute shall upgrade its curricular standards as a postsecondary polytechnic skills educational institution and provide higher level competency qualifications for instructors in TESDA-registered TVET programs and certificate courses. It shall provide relevant skills trainings and trade specialization courses to facilitate the acquisition by the citizenry of the necessary technical-vocational skills that will 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 Misamis Oriental into human resource and productivity hubs. Priority admission to the Institute, 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 in Cagayan de Oro City and the adjacent localities in the Province of Misamis Oriental to ensure their development into productive and globally competitive skilled labor assets. The Institute 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 Misamis Oriental.

SEC. 4. Curricular Offerings and Training Programs. - The Institute shall offer

TESDA-registered TVET programs, postsecondary short-term and undergraduate certificate/diploma courses, and modular trainings on preferred technical-vocational skills. It shall aim to meet the competency requirements under Level V of the Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF), which is the diploma level in TVET. 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), Department of the Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev), business-industry partners, and other relevant agencies and instrumentalities, both local and international, shall provide the necessary assistance so the Institute can produce skilled manpower to supply the needs of a robust and inclusive economy. The Institute may establish research and technology hubs, technology development farms, satellite or extension training centers, promote mobile training programs, and strengthen linkages with industry partners and the academe. It shall also adopt the use of innovative training modes such as information technology- assisted instruction, dual learning system, open or distance education, community laboratory, and such other instructional programs that will allow local residents greater access to TVET program offerings of the Institute. Course completion at the Institute shall be credited after a skills competency assessment under National Certification Levels III to V. When applicable, TVET competency shall qualify a student for academic degree recognition under the ladderized interface system for tertiary education, provided that the requirements of the Commission on Higher Education are complied with. The Institute 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 courses as follows: (a) Skills training in industrial technology and hard trades such as metal and steelwork, automotive machine fabrication and operation, heavy equipment operation, 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 and agri-aqua trade technology and innovations, and relevant training seminars for farmers and fisherfolk to encourage entrepreneurship and thus increase 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, 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; (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; (g) Computer literacy and information technology-related skills, basic computer operation, web development, digital animation, game development and computer aided design application; (h) Social communication skills development 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 and job placement, and work ethic and values; and (i) Other preferred priority skills and trades training that may be needed by the people of Cagayan de Oro City and the adjacent localities 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 COBSAT into the Institute shall become operational only upon the issuance by the TESDA of a formal recommendation and certificate of compliance attesting that the Institute 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 Institute 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 Association of Southeast Asian Nations 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 COBSAT into the Institute.

SEC. 6. Administration. - The Institute 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 (CSC) and the qualification requirements for such office. The Vocational School Superintendent shall pursue cooperative undertakings and partnerships with locally-based private and public institutions, counterpart agencies or instrumentalities, and other persons 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 Institute shall be organized following the staffing pattern of the TESDA for such type of schools, pursuant to existing laws, rules and regulations of the CSC.

SEC. 7. Assets, Liabilities and Personnel. - All assets, fixed and movable,

personnel, records and documents, as well as the liabilities or obligations of the COBSAT, shall be transferred to the COPI: Provided, That the positions, rights and security of tenure of faculty and personnel therein employed prior to its conversion into the Institute, shall not be impaired, pursuant to existing laws. All parcels of land belonging to the government occupied by the COBSAT are henceforth declared as property of the 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 local government unit (LGU) concerned, or to the City of Cagayan de Oro, Province of Misamis Oriental.

SEC. 8. Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the initial funding of the

operations of the Institute shall be charged against the current year's appropriations of the COBSAT. 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, DBM, DILG, DEPDev, the concerned LGUs, and such other relevant agencies and industry- business partners of the host locality, prepare and issue 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.

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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 complete

publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. Approved,