THE HOUSE Committee on Higher and Technical Education chaired by Baguio Rep. Mark Go approved a measure integrating two state colleges in Ilocos Sur into a state university.

House Bill 7352 was introduced by Ilocos Sur 2nd District Rep. Kristine Singson to convert Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College into Ilocos Sur Philippines Polytechnic University by integrating the North Luzon Philippines State College.

Go said the committee will introduce some amendments in the bill including provisions stating that the two colleges must comply with requirements before the conversion into a state university.

During the hearing, the Commission on Higher Education said the institutions should offer at least three doctoral and masters degrees aside from the 20 baccalaureate programs.

The presidents of the two state colleges have expressed their support for the bill during the hearing.

Singson said in her explanatory note the ISPSC and its campuses as well as the NLPSC have throughout the years undergone several institutional transformations to meet the demands of the communities they serve.

“The socio-economic and agricultural vibrancy can be seen in the transformation of these SUCs – the ISPSC from being a farm school in 1913, and the younger NLPSC which began as community college in 1975, into what they are today,” Singson said.

The lawmaker stressed that the integration of the two state colleges is salutary to the Philippine Higher Education Reform agenda.

ISPSC has campuses across Ilocos Sur’s second district, with the main campus in Sta. Maria and extension campuses in Candon City and the municipalities of Narvacan, Tagudin, Santiago, and Cervantes. NLPSC is at the center and the capital of the district in Candon City.

Under the bill, Ilocos Sur Philippines Polytechnic University shall primarily provide advanced education, higher professional and technological instruction, technical and vocational education, and training in humanities, the sciences and the arts, and other related courses.

It shall also offer post-secondary technical-vocational programs, baccalaureate programs, and graduate programs, within its areas of competency and specialization.

The bill also provides for an appropriation of P70 million for the initial operation of seven Research Centers to be established.