MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives has passed on third and final reading a bill establishing a Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) branch in the town of Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro.
Rep. Josephine Sato, the bill’s author, yesterday said that aside from ensuring access to quality education for aspiring college and graduate students, the PUP branch in her province “is expected to boost agricultural development through research and extension.”
The bill mandates the branch to undertake agriculture-related research and extension services, in addition to offering graduate, undergraduate and vocational courses.
Sato hopes that the bill will be enacted into law soon.
Its counterpart in the Senate, Bill No. 1103, introduced by Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, was approved in December last year.
A conference committee will soon come up with a final version of the measure.
She said her province has about 50,000 elementary pupils and 20,000 high school students.
“Our vision is for them to aspire for tertiary education in the province and take in-demand courses in agriculture and tourism. The creation of PUP-Sablayan will hopefully make this vision a reality,” she said.
The law on free college education offers hope for poor students to enroll in the PUP branch and pursue college programs for free.
“The people in our province are looking forward to realizing their dream of better education for their children,” Sato said.