Presidential Decree No. 470 (PD 470) — Converting the Visayas Agricultural College into the Visayas State College of Agriculture, Expanding for This Purpose Its Curricular Programs in Agriculture and Technology.
WHEREAS, The Constitution of the Philippines directs the
State to establish and maintain a complete, adequate and integrated
system of education relevant to the goals of national development, and
further prescribes that all educational institutions shall aim to
develop scientific, technological and vocational efficiency;
WHEREAS, under Presidential Decree No. 6-A promulgated on
September 29, 1972, it has been declared a policy to reorient the
educational system toward an accelerated national economic growth; and
WHEREAS, the conversion of the Visayas Agricultural College
into a State Agricultural College, broadening for this purpose its
curricular programs, would serve to achieve the above national goals;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the
Constitution, do hereby order and decree to be part of the laws of the
land the following:
SECTION 1. The present Visayas Agricultural College located
in the Municipality of Baybay, Leyte, is hereby converted into the
VISAYAS STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, hereinafter referred in this
Decree as the College.
SEC. 2. The College shall primarily provide higher
vocational, professional, and technical instruction and training in
agricultural and industrial fields with special emphasis given to the
coconut industry. It shall also promote research, advance studies, and
progressive leadership in the fields of agriculture including
agricultural education and home technology, with special emphasis given
to coconut industry, fishery, forestry and industrial education.
SEC. 3. In addition to its present secondary agricultural
course and undergraduate courses leading to the degrees of Bachelor of
Science in Agricultural Education, Bachelor of Science in Agricultural
Homemaking and Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, the College shall
offer undergraduate courses leading to the degrees of Bachelor of
Science in Agricultural Engineering, and Bachelor of Science in
Forestry; post graduate courses leading to the degrees of Master of
Science in Agriculture and Master of Science in Agricultural Education;
courses in fresh-water fish culture and such other degree courses and
special courses as the Board of Trustees may deem necessary.
SEC. 4. No student shall be denied admission to the College
by reason of sex, ethnic consideration, or religious belief or
affiliation.
SEC. 5. The head of the college shall be known as the
President of the Visayas State College of Agriculture. He shall be
appointed by the President of the Philippines.
The power and duties of the president of the college in addition
to those specifically provided for in this Decree, shall be those
usually pertaining to the office of the president of a college.
SEC. 6. The governing body of the college shall be the
Board of Trustees of the Visayas State College of Agriculture. It shall
be composed of the Secretary of Education and Culture who shall be the
chairman, the Director of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, the Dean
of the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture in Los
Baños, the President of the College, and four prominent residents of
Leyte who are distinguished leaders in agricultural education or in
agricultural activities.
Such residents shall be appointed by the President of the
Philippines. Of the first group appointed, the President shall designate
one to serve for one year; one to serve for two years; one to serve for
three years; and one to serve for four years. Thereafter persons
appointed to succeed such members shall hold office for a term of four
years and until their successors shall have been appointed and
qualified. In case of a permanent vacancy, the position shall be filled
by appointment by the President of the Philippines. Such appointee shall
hold office for the unexpired term only.
When the Secretary of
Education and Culture is unable to perform his duties as Chairman of the
Board due to illness, absence or other cause, or in case of vacancy in
the office, the Undersecretary of Education and Culture shall
temporarily perform the functions of the Chairman of the said Board.
When both the Secretary and the Undersecretary of Education and Culture
are unable to exercise the powers of the Chairman of the Board of
Trustees, the members of the Board shall elect for among themselves a
temporary chairman who shall act as Chairman thereof.
SEC. 7. The members of the Board of Trustees shall serve
without compensation but they shall be reimbursed for actual and
necessary expenses incurred either in attendance upon meetings of the
Board or upon other official business authorized by resolution thereof.
SEC. 8. In addition to its general powers of
administration, the Board of Trustees shall have the following powers
and duties:
To receive and appropriate for the purposes specified by law
such sums as may be provided for the support of the college.
To confer degrees upon successful candidates for graduation
of the College. It may also confer the usual honorary degrees upon
persons in recognition of learning, statesmanship or eminence in
science, agriculture, forestry, industry or public service related to
such fields;
Subject to Civil Service Law, rules and regulations, to
appoint, upon recommendation of the President of the College, the Deans
of the different schools of the College, the Registrar, the heads of
departments, professors, instructors, lecturers and other employees
of the College; to fix, in accordance with WAPCO rates, their
compensation; to prescribe hours of service, duties and the conditions
of works as it may deem proper; to grant to them in its
discretion, leave of absence under such regulations as it may
promulgate, any provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding,
and to remove them for cause upon investigation and hearing-
pursuant to Civil Service Law governing disciplinary action;
To approve the curricula and rules of discipline
drawn up by the College Council as hereinafter provided;
To fix the tuition fees required of students as well as
matriculation fees, graduation fees and fees for laboratory trust
fund of the College, and remit the same to the office or authority
concerned;
To provide fellowships and scholarship for deserving faculty
members and students;
To prescribe rules for its own government and for this
purpose, to enact such regulations not contrary to law, as may
be necessary;
To receive in trust legacies, gifts and donations of real and
personal property of all kinds and to administer the same for the
benefit of the College or of a department thereof, or for aid to any
student in accordance with the directions and instructions of the donor,
and in default thereof, in such manner as the Board of Trustees may in
its discretion determine;
To provide vocational training to adult citizens and
out-of-school youths; and
To name after prominent Filipinos or heroes any building,
annex, ground, or branch of the College.
SEC. 9. A quorum of the Board of Trustees shall consist
of a majority of all the members holding office at the time the meeting
of the Board is called. All processes against the Board of Trustees
shall be served on the President or secretary thereof.
SEC. 10. On or before the fifteenth day of June of
each year, the Board of Trustees shall submit to the President of the
Philippines a detailed report, setting forth the progress, condition,
and needs of the College.
SEC. 11. There shall be a College Council consisting
of the President of the College and all members of the faculty of the
College. The Council shall have the power to prescribe the curricula and
rules of discipline, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees.
It shall fix the requirements for admission to the College, as well as
for graduation and the conferring of degrees, subject to review of the
Board of Trustees. The Council alone shall have the power to recommend
students or others to be recipients of degrees. Through the President of
the College or a duly authorized committee, the Council shall have
disciplinary power over the students within the limits prescribed by the
rules of discipline.
SEC. 12. The body of instructors and professors of
the College shall constitute the faculty of the College, with the
President of the College as the presiding officer.
No member of the faculty of the College shall attempt directly
or indirectly, under penalty of dismissal by the Board of Trustees, to
influence students or attendants at the College towards any ideology,
political or otherwise, which preaches the overthrow of the government
through violence or subversion.
SEC. 13. There shall be a secretary of the College who
shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees upon recommendation of the
President of the College. He shall be the Secretary of the Board and
also of the College, and shall keep such of the records of the College
as may be determined by the Board of Trustees.
SEC. 14. The President of the College may, upon prior
consultation with the superintendent of schools of the province,
designate any secondary school in the division concerned as training or
laboratory school of the College.
SEC. 15. The treasurer of the Philippines shall be
ex-officio treasurer of the College. All accounts and expenses therefor
shall be audited by the Commission on Audit and all disbursements shall
be made in accordance with auditing rules and regulations.
SEC. 16. Heads of bureaus and offices of the National
Government are hereby authorized to loan, or transfer, upon request of
the President of the College, such apparatus, equipment or supplies as
may be needed by the College and to detail employees for duty therein,
when in the judgment of the head of the bureau or office, such
apparatus, equipment, supplies or the services of such employees can be
spared without serious detriment to the public service. Employees so
detailed shall perform such duty as is required under such detail, and
the time so employed shall be counted as part of their regular official
service.
SEC. 17. The requirements provided in this Decree as may
prove adverse to the present faculty and employees of the Visayas
Agricultural College who may be absorbed by the Visayas State College of
Agriculture shall not apply to them. But future appointees to the said
College shall be subject to all the requirements provided in this
Decree.
SEC. 18. All parcels of land, buildings, equipment and
facilities owned by the Visayas Agricultural College, as well as all
obligations and appropriations thereof, shall be transferred to the
Visayas State College of Agriculture.
SEC. 19. In addition to the amount already appropriated
for the Visayas Agricultural College, there is hereby appropriated, from
the funds of the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum
of two million pesos for purposes of carrying out immediately the
provisions of this Decree. Hereafter, such sums as may be necessary to
carry out the provisions of this Decree shall be included annually in
the General Appropriations Decree.
SEC. 20. This Decree shall take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila, this 24th day of May, in the year
of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.
(Sgd.)
FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the Philippines
By the President:
(Sgd.)
ALEJANDRO MELCHOR
Executive Secretary
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
