Conversion of Camarines Norte National High School into a state college

Core mission and training fields

Section 2 requires the State College to primarily provide higher technological and professional instruction and training.
Section 2 provides that instruction and training must cover: economics, agriculture, health, engineering, education, management, finance, accounting, forest research and conservation, business and public administration.
Section 2 requires the State College to offer short-term technical and vocational courses.
Section 2 mandates the State College to provide and promote research and extension services and advanced studies with progressive leadership across all areas of discipline and responsibilities.

Programs and degree offerings

Section 3 requires the State College to offer, in addition to the two-year agricultural technology curriculum of Camarines Norte National Agricultural School, undergraduate courses and graduate courses.
Section 3 provides that undergraduate degrees include: Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (with appropriate major fields of specialization), Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Bachelor of Science in Forestry, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science in Education, Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Architecture, and Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
Section 3 provides that graduate degrees include: Master of Arts in Educational Management, Master of Science in Fisheries, Master of Science in Agriculture, Master in Public Administration, and Master in Management.
Section 3 authorizes the Board of Regents to offer such other courses as it deems necessary.

President of the State College

Section 4 designates the head of the State College as the President.
Section 4 provides that the President is appointed by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation of the Board of Regents.
Section 4 provides that the President’s powers and duties include those usually pertaining to the office of a President of a state college, plus powers specifically provided in the Act.
Section 4 requires the President’s salary to be fixed by the Board of Regents comparable to presidents of similar educational institutions of like enrollment and standing.
Section 4 sets the President’s term at six (6) years with no reappointment, unless retirement age is reached, or the President is earlier removed for cause or incapacitated to discharge duties.

Board of Regents composition and terms

Section 5 establishes the Board of Regents of the State College as the governing body.
Section 5 provides the Board composition as follows:
- Secretary of Education, Culture and Sports (Chairman)
- President of the Camarines Norte State College (Vice-Chairman)
- Chairman of the Committee on Education and Culture of the Senate (member)
- Chairman of the Committee on Education and Culture of the House of Representatives (member)
- Representative of the National Economic and Development Authority (member)
- President of the faculty association of the State College (member)
- President of the supreme student council of the State College (member)
- President of the alumni association of the State College (member)
- President of the employee association of the State College (member)
- Two (2) prominent residents of the Province of Camarines Norte (members)
Section 5 provides that the President of the alumni association and the employee association, and the two (2) prominent residents, are elected by the Board when deemed necessary, with the same powers, authority, and privileges as regular members.
Section 5 sets ex officio/term rules:
- The Department of Education, Culture and Sports Secretary, the President of the State College, the Senate and House Education and Culture committee chairmen, and the NEDA representative hold an ex officio term of office.
- The presidents of the faculty association and supreme student council serve for one (1) year.
- When deemed necessary, the presidents of the alumni association and employee association serve for one (1) year.
- When likewise necessary, the two (2) prominent residents serve for four (4) years and two (2) years, respectively.

Board powers, fees, finance, and operations

Section 6 grants Board members an allowance of Three hundred pesos (P300.00) per meeting actually attended, capped at Six hundred pesos (P600.00) per month.
Section 6 allows reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred attending meetings or other official business authorized by Board resolution.
Section 6 requires the Board to convene regularly once every two (2) months on the first Friday thereof, and authorizes the Chairman to call special meetings when necessary.
Section 7 empowers the Board to:
- Confer degrees upon successful graduates and honorary degrees for achievements, statesmanship, eminence in industry, or public service related to the relevant fields, while prohibiting degrees conferred in consideration of or to reciprocate personal favors.
- Appoint, upon the recommendation of the President, deans, registrar, secretary, heads of departments, professors, instructors, lecturers, and other administrative and supervisory officials necessary for effective program implementation; fix their compensation and salaries; prescribe hours of service and duties; grant leaves of absence under Board regulations; prescribe rules on academic discipline, professional growth, and remove personnel for cause after due investigation and hearing pursuant to the Civil Service Law; and establish professorial chairs and provide for their maintenance or endorsement.
- Authorize the President to award proficiency certification or diploma to students who completed nondegree courses.
- Approve curricular offerings and discipline rules prepared by the College Council.
- Fix tuition fees and other necessary school charges including matriculation fees, graduation fees, and laboratory fees.
Section 7 declares that tuition fees and school charges, including government subsidies and other income generated by the State College, constitute a special trust fund deposited in any authorized government depository bank, and that all interest earned forms part of the same fund for the State College’s use.
Section 7 authorizes, despite contrary laws, Board discretion in disbursing income generated by the State College and sums appropriated for support for: professional growth and development, health, welfare, and similar benefits for faculty members and personnel; acquisition, construction, maintenance, and repair of urgently needed instructional and auxiliary facilities and equipment; and other expenses necessary for attaining the Act’s purposes.
Section 7 permits the Board, if a funded project cannot be pursued for reasons beyond control under the approved expenditures program, to authorize use of said funds for any reasonable purpose that is necessary and urgent to attain the State College’s objectives and goals.
Section 7 empowers the Board to provide fellowships and scholarships for qualified and deserving faculty members and students; prescribe rules for its own government; enact general ordinances and regulations for State College governance consistent with the Act’s purposes and not contrary to law.
Section 7 authorizes the Board to receive in trust legacies, gifts, and donations of real and personal property, administer them for the State College or a Department, or for aid to students in accordance with donor directions, and in default, as the Board determines; also declares all donations exempt from all taxes and deductible items from donors’ income tax.
Section 7 authorizes duty-free importation of commodities for educational purposes as an exemption to existing laws.
Section 7 authorizes the State College to undertake construction and/or repair of buildings, machineries and equipment, and other facilities notwithstanding contrary law or executive order, provided the funds come from appropriations.
Section 7 authorizes the Board to acquire additional sites or campuses and provide necessary facilities and improvements.
Section 7 empowers the State College to provide vocational training to adult citizens and out-of-school youths in the community.

College Council and discipline powers

Section 9 establishes a College Council presided over by the President of the State College.
Section 9 provides that members include the Vice-President, College Registrar, and all professors and instructors.
Section 9 grants the Council authority to prescribe curriculum and rules of discipline and recommend appointments of personnel subject to Board of Regents approval.
Section 9 requires the Council to fix admission requirements, graduation requirements, and requirements for conferring titles or degrees, subject to Board of Regents review.
Section 9 provides that only the Council has power to recommend students or others as recipients of degrees.
Section 9 grants disciplinary power over students through the President of the State College or a duly authorized committee, within limits set by discipline rules approved by the Board of Regents.

Faculty, appointments, and personnel rules

Section 10 provides that the body of instructors and professors constitutes the faculty of instruction, with the President of the Camarines Norte State College as presiding officer.
Section 10 prohibits testing religious opinion or party affiliation as part of faculty appointment inquiring.
Section 11 exempts professors, instructors, and other teaching personnel from Civil Service examination or regulation as a requisite for appointment.
Section 12 provides that the Treasurer of the Philippines serves ex officio as Treasurer of the State College.
Section 12 requires all accounts and expenses to be audited by the Chairman of the Commission on Audit or authorized representatives.
Section 13 creates the position of Secretary of the State College, appointed by the Board of Regents upon recommendation of the President.
Section 13 makes the Secretary the Secretary of the Board and requires keeping such records as the Board of Regents determines.

Finance, loans, cooperation, and contracting

Section 14 empowers the State College, to help achieve educational, research, and extension aims, to negotiate or make arrangements with sister government or private organizations and seek assistance from educational foundations.
Section 15 authorizes the President, on behalf of the Republic of the Philippines and subject to Board approval, to contract loans, credits, or indebtedness from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Philippine National Bank (PNB), and any foreign lenders to finance self-liquidating construction projects.
Section 15 limits total yearly amortization, including interest, to seventy-five percent (75%) of the total yearly expected production income of the State College.

Transfer of assets and staff absorption

Section 16 provides that requirements in the Act that prove adverse to present faculty and employees of the identified schools—Camarines Norte National High School, Mercedes School of Fisheries, Camarines Norte National Agricultural School, Camarines Norte National School of Arts and Trades, and Abano Pilot Elementary School—do not apply to them if absorbed by the State College.
Section 16 requires absorption of present officials, faculty, and employees by the State College and grants them priority in promotion to positions created as a result of the Act.
Section 16 requires future appointees to the created positions to comply with requirements provided in the Act.
Section 17 transfers all assets of the identified schools, including buildings, equipment, records, and other physical facilities, to become property of the State College.
Section 17 requires transfer of parcels of land titled or declared in the name of the identified schools to the State College, and requires the Registrar of Deeds of the Province of Camarines Norte to issue the corresponding Transfer Certificate of Title to the State College.
Section 17 requires transfer of cash balances, depositories, appropriations, and accounting records of the identified schools to the State College.

Implementation, reporting, appropriations, and effect

Section 8 requires the Board of Regents to submit to the President of the Philippines through the Secretary of Education, Culture and Sports, and to both houses of Congress a detailed report of the State College’s progress, condition, and needs on or before the fifteenth of the second month after the opening of regular classes each year.
Section 18 directs the Secretary of Education, Culture and Sports, as Chairman of the Board of Regents, to take necessary steps for immediate implementation of the Act.
Section 19 charges the amount needed to carry out the Act against current fiscal year appropriations of Camarines Norte National High School, Abano Pilot Elementary School, Mercedes School of Fisheries, Camarines Norte National Agricultural School, and Camarines Norte National School of Arts and Trades, and requires that thereafter necessary sums for continued operation be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.
Section 20 repeals or amends all laws, decrees, and executive orders contrary to or inconsistent with the Act.
Section 21 provides that the Act takes effect upon approval.
The Act was approved on April 2, 1992.