Establishing Bicol University and Defining Powers

Conversion of existing schools

Section 2 converts the Bicol Teachers College, the Daraga Central Elementary School, the Albay Provincial High School, the Bicol Regional School of Arts and Trades, the Roxas Memorial Agricultural School, and the School of Fisheries at Tabaco, Albay into appropriate or other units of the Bicol University.
Section 2 authorizes the Board of Regents to reorganize the converted units under Section 6(e).

Primary purpose and academic mission

Section 3 requires the Bicol University to primarily provide professional and technical training.
Section 3 requires the Bicol University to provide advanced and specialized instruction in literature, philosophy, the science and arts.
Section 3 directs the Bicol University to promote scientific and technological researches.

Corporate powers and public works

Section 4(a) grants the Bicol University the general powers set forth in Section 13 of Act No. 1459, as amended, with the exercise of corporate powers vested exclusively in the Board of Regents and in the President of the University to the extent authorized by the Board.
Section 4(b) authorizes the Bicol University to acquire public lands for expansion and/or beneficial use.
Section 4(c) authorizes, through its college of engineering, the construction of its buildings and other permanent improvements, and provides that necessary sums shall be included in the Annual General Appropriations Act for the University.
Section 4(c) transfers all public works appropriations in the name of the former schools to the Bicol University under this Act.
Section 4(c) requires that authorized building and permanent improvement construction undertaken under the public works Acts of the Government shall be undertaken by the college of engineering, notwithstanding any provision of existing laws to the contrary.

Governing Board composition and eligibility

Section 5(a) vests governance in a Board of Regents composed of nine members: six regular and three ex-officio.
Section 5(a) requires the Secretary of Education to be the ex-officio Chairman of the Board of Regents.
Section 5(a) requires the other ex-officio members to be the Chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
Section 5(a) requires regular members to be Filipino citizens and residents of the Philippines, including:
- Two educators in or from the Bicol Region;
- Two successful businessmen or industrialists or professionals of the Region who have shown and are showing interest in the cause of education in the region; and
- Two successful alumni of any school or college to be incorporated into and integrated into the University upon recommendation of their respective alumni association, with replacement in due time by successful alumni of the University upon recommendation by their alumni association when organized.
Section 5(a) bars eligibility: no person in the employ of the University or any other educational institution in the Region, in any capacity, including as dean, professor, instructor, lecturer, or otherwise, shall be eligible for Board membership.
Section 5(a) provides that regular members serve four years and are appointed by the President of the Philippines with the consent of the Commission on Appointments.
Section 5(a) sets staggered initial terms for the first six regular members: two for two years, two for three years, and two for four years as designated by the President of the Philippines.
Section 5(a) provides that if the Secretary of Education is absent, unable, or the position is vacant, the other Board members elect a temporary chairman from among themselves.
Section 5(a) provides that vacancies in regular membership are filled by the President of the Philippines with the consent of the Commission on Appointments for the unexpired term only.

Compensation, quorum, and board meetings

Section 5(a) provides that each regular member receives a per diem of one hundred pesos for every Board meeting attended.
Section 5(a) limits per diem: in no case shall the total received by each regular member exceed three hundred pesos for any one month.
Section 5(a) requires reimbursement (besides per diem) for actual and necessary expenses incurred in attending meetings or performing other official business authorized by Board resolution, and includes ex-officio members.
Section 6(a) empowers the Board to determine dates and time of regular and special meetings.
Section 6(a) limits meeting frequency: meetings shall be not more than three times in any one month, and not less than one time in any one quarter.
Section 7 sets quorum: quorum consists of the majority of all members holding office at the time the meeting is called.
Section 7 requires service of “processes against the Board of Regents” on the chairman or secretary of the Board.

Board of Regents powers and duties

Section 6(a)(b) grants the Board authority to recommend the President of the University for appointment by the President of the Philippines with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, for a nine-year term.
Section 6(c) empowers the Board to fix the compensation of the President and to empower him to sit as ex-officio member with the right to participate in deliberations but without the right to vote.
Section 6(d) authorizes the Board to receive and appropriate sums provided by law for support of the University for the ends specified by law.
Section 6(e) empowers the Board to establish colleges and schools it deems necessary, with mandatory initial conversions into specific units:
- Bicol Teachers College, Daraga Central Elementary School, and Albay Provincial High School convert into the College of Education for elementary, high school and collegiate education;
- Bicol Regional School of Arts and Trades converts into the School of Arts and Trades under the College of Engineering;
- Roxas Memorial Agricultural School converts into the College of Agriculture; and
- School of Fisheries converts into the College of Fisheries.
Section 6(e) requires immediate establishment of a postgraduate course in liberal arts and sciences or in education leading to a master’s degree.
Section 6(e) requires the university to possess and maintain a professionally administered library of at least ten thousand bound volumes of collegiate books.
Section 6(f) authorizes the Board to receive in trust legacies, gifts, and donations of real and personal property and administer them for the University or a department, or for aid to students according to donor instructions; it also provides that donations are exempt from income tax of the donors.
Section 6(f) authorizes the Board to import duty free commodities for educational purposes as an exception to existing laws.
Section 6(g) empowers the Board to appoint personnel upon the recommendation of the President, fix compensation, hours of service, and other duties and conditions, grant leave of absence under Board regulations, and remove for cause after an investigation and hearing.
Section 6(g) allows the Board to extend faculty tenure beyond age sixty-five upon the President’s recommendation, but forbids extension beyond age seventy.
Section 6(g) automatically retains all heads, professors, instructors, lecturers, researchers, and other employees employed in the schools and colleges to be incorporated and integrated into the University, consistent with Civil Service rules and regulations.
Section 6(h) requires Board approval of courses of study and rules of discipline drawn up by the university council.
Section 6(h) empowers the Board to fix tuition fees, matriculation fees, laboratory fees, graduation fees, and all special and other fees, to remit them in special cases, and to utilize income from these fees for university maintenance together with annual appropriations under Section 19.
Section 6(i) requires the Board to provide fellowships and scholarships and award them to students showing special evidence of merit.
Section 6(j) empowers the Board to establish chairs, maintain or endow them, and provide for other positions (assistant professors, instructors, tutors, lecturers) as instruction progresses, including fixing their compensation.
Section 6(k) allows the Board to confer usual honorary degrees on persons other than university graduates in recognition of learning, statesmanship, or eminence in literature, science, or arts, but prohibits conferring such degrees in consideration of the payment of money or other valuable consideration.
Section 6(l) requires the Board to file a detailed annual report to the President of the Philippines setting forth progress, conditions, and needs, on or before the fifteenth day of September of each year.

University administration structure

Section 8(a) vests administration in the President of the University, who shall render full time service.
Section 8(a) provides for three Vice-Presidents: Executive Vice-President, Vice-President for Academic Affairs, and Vice-President for External Affairs.
Section 8(a) requires the Vice-Presidents to be appointed by the Board of Regents upon the President’s recommendation, with their compensation fixed by the Board.
Section 9(a) gives the President powers and duties, including recommending appointments to the Board of Regents of vice-presidents, deans, professors, instructors, lecturers, and other employees.
Section 9(b) requires the President to promulgate general ordinances and regulations for the government of the University, not contrary to law and consistent with the University’s purposes.
Section 10(a) requires the Board of Regents to appoint a Secretary who serves for both the Board and the University and keeps the records designated by the Board and the President.
Section 11 establishes a University Council consisting of the President and all faculty members holding the rank of dean, professor, associate professor, and assistant professor.

University Council, faculty rules, and discipline

Section 11 requires the University Council, subject to existing laws, to prescribe courses of study and rules of discipline, but mandates that these matters receive Board approval first.
Section 11 empowers the University Council to fix admission requirements for any college, and requirements for graduation and conferment of degrees.
Section 11 grants the University Council alone the power to recommend students or others to be recipients of degrees.
Section 11 gives the University Council disciplinary powers over students through its president or committee within the limits of Board-approved rules of discipline.
Section 12(a) provides that the body of professors and instructors of each college constitutes its faculty.
Section 12(a) provides that the dean of each faculty is elected by the Board of Regents on nomination by the President.
Section 12(a) prohibits religious and political tests in appointment processes and bars using religious or political opinions or affiliations as a matter of examination or inquiry.
Section 12(a) requires that no professor, instructor, or other personnel inculcate sectarian tenets in any teachings.
Section 12(a) prohibits university personnel from attempting, directly or indirectly, to influence students or attendants for or against any particular church or religious sect or for or against any political party during any political campaign, and subjects violations to dismissal by the Board of Regents.
Section 12(a) provides that the university enjoys academic freedom.

Civil service, comptroller, and audit

Section 13 exempts the President, Vice-Presidents, deans, professors, other regular instructors, and university employees from any civil service examination or regulation as a prerequisite to appointment, except classified employees in the offices of the Comptroller and the representative of the Auditor General.
Section 13 guarantees security of tenure, promotion for meritorious service, salaries, leaves, and retirement benefits as in government service provided for by law.
Section 14 establishes a Comptroller of the University appointed by the President of the Philippines with the consent of the Commission on Appointments.
Section 14 requires the Comptroller to have the civil service qualification and rank of a provincial treasurer.
Section 14 authorizes the Comptroller to appoint subordinates who must be civil service eligibles, subject to the last proviso of Section 6(g).
Section 14 provides that the Board of Regents determines the Comptroller’s staff size and compensations, including the Comptroller’s compensation.
Section 15 makes the Auditor General of the Philippines an ex-officio auditor of the University.
Section 15 authorizes the Auditor General to designate a representative with the civil service qualification and rank of a provincial auditor to perform duties as a regular university official.
Section 15 authorizes the designated representative to appoint subordinates who must be civil service eligibles, subject to the last proviso of Section 6(g).
Section 15 requires the Board of Regents to determine and fix the office staff size and compensations, and to fix the Auditor’s representative compensation upon the Auditor General’s recommendation.

Government assistance, loans, and visitors

Section 16 authorizes heads of bureaus and offices of the national government, upon request of the President of the University, to loan or transfer needed apparatus or supplies to the University.
Section 16 authorizes detail of employees for duty in the University when the bureau or office judgment determines that supplies or employees can be spared without serious detriment to public service.
Section 16 requires detailed employees to perform duties required under such detail and provides that time employed counts as part of their regular service.
Section 17 creates a Board of Visitors composed of the President of the Philippines, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Senators and Congressmen from the Bicol Region.
Section 17 directs the Board of Visitors to attend commencement exercises, make visits at other times it deems proper, examine property, courses of study, discipline, and state of finances; inspect books and accounts; and make reports and recommendations to the President of the Philippines.

Abolition and transfer of functions

Section 18 abolishes the Bicol Teachers College, the Daraga Central Elementary School, the Albay Provincial High School, the Bicol Regional School of Arts and Trades, the Roxas Memorial Agricultural School, and the School of Fisheries at Tabaco, Albay.
Section 18 transfers to the Bicol University the personnel, unexpended appropriations, and all fixed and movable assets of the abolished schools.

Appropriations and funding

Section 19 appropriates one million pesos out of any funds in the National Treasury for the Board of Regents’ discretion for the establishment and operation of the University.
Section 19 requires that unexpended balances in appropriations for the schools and colleges incorporated and integrated into the University at the time of incorporation and integration shall be added to the one million pesos.
Section 19 requires that thereafter funds for maintenance of the University be included in the annual General Appropriations Act, with the total sum recommended by the Board of Regents.

Effectivity

Section 20 provides that the Act takes effect upon approval.
The Act was approved June 21, 1969.