Presidential Decree No. 609 (PD 609) — Establishing the Tarlac College of Agriculture in the Municipality of Camiling, Province of Tarlac.
WHEREAS, the Constitution of the Philippines prescribes
that all educational institutions shall aim to develop scientific
technological and vocational efficiency;
WHEREAS, Presidential Decree No. 6-A (Educational Decree of
1972) declared it a policy that educational objectives shall be attained
through the undertaking of educational development projects by
expansion of agricultural and higher education programs and agricultural
extension activities to meet the demands and needs of the New Society;
WHEREAS, it is imperative that agricultural institutions,
particularly agricultural schools, cooperate to the maximum in the
massive land reform programs of the government to uplift the
tenant-farmer from lethargy and ignorance and to release him from the
bondage of tenancy;
WHEREAS, the Tarlac College of Agriculture can carry out
with greater strength its goals, agricultural programs and its vital
role in national economic development effectively and efficiently if
granted complete autonomy.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution as
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant
to Proclamation No. 1081 dated September 21, 1972, and General Order
No. 1 dated September 22, 1972, as amended, do hereby decree and order
the following:
SECTION 1. The Tarlac College of Agriculture of the Tarlac
College of Technology, located in the Municipality of Camiling, Province
of Tarlac, is hereby separated from the latter college and established
as an independent state college. The Tarlac College of Agriculture shall
offer a four-year secondary agricultural course and special course
leading to the title of Associate in Technical Agriculture; Courses
leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, Bachelor
of Science in Agricultural Education, Bachelor of Science in Home
Technology, and Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering, post
graduate course leading to the degrees of Master of Science in
Agriculture, and other degree courses and special courses as the Board
of Trustees of the college may deem necessary.
SEC. 2. The aim of the said college shall be to provide
professional, technical and special instruction for special purposes and
to promote research extension services and progressive leadership in
agriculture, agricultural education, home technology and other related
educational fields.
SEC. 3. The head of this institution shall be known as the
President of the Tarlac College of Agriculture. He shall be appointed by
the President of the Philippines upon the recommendation of the board
of trustees as hereinafter provided. The powers and duties of the
president of the college, in addition to those especially provided for
in this Decree, shall be those usually pertaining to the office of the
president of the state colleges.
SEC. 4. The government of said college is hereby vested in a
board of trustees of the Tarlac College of Agriculture, The board of
trustees shall be composed of the Secretary of Education, who shall be
ex-officio chairman of the board, the Provincial Governor of Tarlac, the
Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Secretary of
Agrarian Reform, the Secretary of Labor, the Director of Vocational
Education, the president of the college and the president of the Tarlac
College of Agriculture Alumni Association.
Members of the board shall serve without compensation, other than
actual and necessary expenses incurred either in attendance upon
meetings of the board or upon other official business authorized by
resolution of the board.
SEC. 5. The board of trustees
shall have the following powers of administration:
To create, in addition to the existing College of Agriculture, a
College of Forestry, College of Veterinary Science, College of Inland
Fisheries and other allied colleges as the Board may deem necessary;
To receive and appropriate to the ends specified by law sums of
money as may be provided by law for the support of the college;
To confer the title of Associate of Agricultural Education, the
degrees of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, Bachelor of Science in
Home Technology, and such other titles and degrees, corresponding to the
courses which the board of trustees may offer: Provided, That it
may confer the usual honorary degrees upon any person in recognition of
learning, statesmanship, leadership or eminence in literature, science,
art, agriculture or public service;
To appoint, upon the recommendation of the president of the
college, instructors, professors, lecturers and other employees of the
college: Such recommending power of the President shall, however, be
subjected to limitations as may be provided by a Code for the College;
to fix their compensation, hours or service and such other duties and
conditions as may be deemed proper; to grant to them in its discretion,
leaves of absence under such regulations as it may promulgate, any
provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, and to remove them for
cause after an investigation and hearing shall have been conducted;
To approve the curricula and rules of discipline drawn up by the
college council as hereinafter provided;
To fix the tuition fees, graduation fees and fees for laboratory
courses and all special fees, and to remit the same in special cases;
To provide fellowships for faculty members and scholarships to
students showing special evidence of merit;
To provide rules for its own government, and to enact, for the
government of the college, such general ordinances and regulations not
contrary to law, as are consistent with the purposes of the college; as
defined in Section two of this Act; and
To receive in trust, legacies, gifts, donations of real and
personal property of all kinds and to administer the same for the
benefit of the college 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.
SEC. 6. A quorum of the board of trustees shall consist of a
majority of all the members.
SEC. 7. On or before the fifteenth of June of each year,
the board of trustees shall file with the President of the Philippines a
detailed report, setting forth the progress, condition and needs of the
college.
SEC. 8. There shall be a college council consisting of
the president of the college, as presiding Officer and of all
instructors and professors of the college, as members. The council shall
have the power to prescribe the curricula and rules of discipline of
the college, 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 award of a title or a degree. The council shall also
have the power to recommend students or other persons to be awarded
titles or degrees. Through the president, it shall have disciplinary
power over the students within the limits prescribed by the rules and
discipline approved by the board of trustees.
Other powers of the council shall be embodied in the Code for
the College to be hereinafter enacted.
SEC. 9. The body of
the instructors and professors of the college shall constitute the
faculty of the college. In the appointment of professors or instructors
of the college, no religious test shall be applied nor shall religious
opinions or affiliations of any of the faculty members be made a matter
of examination or inquiry: Provided, however, That no instructor
or professor in the college shall inculcate sectarian tenets in any of
his teachings, nor shall he attempt either directly or indirectly, under
penalty of dismissal, to influence students for or against any
particular church or religious sect.
SEC. 10. No civil service eligibility shall be required
for appointment to the college as a professor or regular instructor.
SEC. 11. There shall be a secretary of the college,
appointed by the board of trustees, who shall also act as the secretary
of the board, and shall keep such records of the college as may be
designated by the board.
SEC. 12. The Treasurer of the Philippines shall be
ex-officio treasurer of the college. All accounts and expenses therefore
shall be audited by the Commission on Audit and all disbursements shall
be made in accordance with existing auditing rules and regulations.
SEC. 13. Heads of bureaus or offices of the National
Government are hereby authorized to loan or transfer, upon request of
the president of the college, such apparatus 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 supplies or
employees can be spared without serious detriment to the public service.
Employees so detailed shall perform such duties as may be required of
them by the head of the institution, and the time they spent under
detail shall be counted as part of their regular official service.
SEC. 14. The president of the college, with the approval
of the Director of Public Schools, may use one or more public schools as
training or laboratory schools of the college.
SEC. 15. An Officer-in-Charge to be appointed by the
President of the Philippines shall take the place and/or take over the
functions and powers of the president in the Tarlac College of
Agriculture until the need for the latter arises.
SEC. 16. In order not to interrupt the smooth functioning
of the Tarlac College of Agriculture, the faculty as well as the other
personnel thereof as are presently employed on full-time basis, shall be
absorbed by the said college. Salaries of the personnel shall be
adjusted in the discretion of the Board of Trustees, and all properties
and assets, such as lands, buildings, equipment and facilities; also the
land grant in Mayantoc, Tarlac, if and when it is released by the
Bureau of Forest Development, as well as all its liabilities, shall be
absorbed by the new college.
SEC. 17. For the purpose of giving effect to this decree,
each college shall maintain its budget share up to the end of the
current fiscal year. In addition to this, one-half of all unexpended
balance of the appropriation for the Tarlac College of Technology during
the current fiscal year are hereby made available and shall be remitted
to the Tarlac College of Agriculture. Thereafter, such sums as may be
necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this Decree shall be
included in the Annual General Appropriations Decree.
SEC. 18. Provisions consistent with this Decree and which
shall complement, strengthen and make effective the provisions thereof,
shall be embodied in a Code of the College to be hereinafter enacted.
SEC. 19. Such provisions of Republic Act Numbered
Forty-three hundred thirty-seven as are inconsistent with the provisions
of this Decree are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
SEC. 20. This Decree shall take effect upon its approval.
Done in the City of Manila, this 18th day of December, 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).
