Be it enacted by the Batasang Pambansa in session assembled:

SECTION 1. The Samar School of Arts and Trades in the Municipality of Catbalogan, Province of Samar, is converted into the Samar State Polytechnic College, hereinafter referred to as the State College.

SEC. 2. The State College shall primarily provide higher vocational, professional and technological instruction and training in the fields of industry, agriculture, fishery, engineering and sciences, as well as short term vocational-technical-continuing courses. It shall also promote research, advanced industrial technology including industrial education, arts service trades, agriculture including agricultural education, home technology, fishery, forestry, engineering and sciences.

SEC. 3. In addition to the present secondary, post-secondary graduate courses, the State College shall offer undergraduate and graduate courses in the fields of agricultural and industrial education, sciences, and engineering, such as: Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, Mining Engineering, Marine Engineering, Industrial Management, Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Extension, Home Technology, Agricultural Technology, Fishery Technology, Forestry, Diploma in Veterinary Technology, and Engineering Technology; post graduate courses leading to the degrees of Master of Science in Agriculture, Agricultural Education, Industrial Technology; and other degree courses and special vocational courses as the Board of Trustees may deem necessary.

SEC. 4. No student shall be denied admission to the State College by reason of sex, ethnic consideration or religious beliefs or affiliation.

SEC. 5. The head of the State College shall be known as the President of the Samar State Polytechnic College . His salary shall be fixed by the Board of Trustees which shall be comparable to that being received by the president of similar institutions of like standing, subject to Presidential Decree No. 985 and other pertinent budget and compensation laws. He shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon the recommendation of the Board of Trustees.

The powers and duties of the President of the Samar Polytechnic State College, in addition to those specifically provided for in this Act, shall be those usually pertaining to the office of the president of a state college.

SEC. 6. The incumbent Vocational School Superintendent of the Samar School of Arts and Trades in Samar shall be the first President of the State College . The other officials of the State College shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees: Provided, That graduate studies and academic affairs shall be headed preferably by a bona fide resident of Samar with appropriate and adequate educational qualifications, training and experience, preferably a Doctor of Philosophy in Education.

SEC. 7. The governing body of the State College shall be the Board of Trustees of the Samar Polytechnic State College. It shall be composed of the Minister of Education and Culture as chairman, the President of the State College as the vice chairman, with the following as members: the Director, Ministry of Education and Culture, Region VIII, the Director, National Economic and Development Authority, the president of the alumni association, the Governor of the Province of Samar, and one bona fide resident of Samar with management and technical expertise.

SEC. 8. A quorum of the Board of Trustees consists of a majority of all members holding office at the time a meeting is called. All processes against the Board of Trustees shall be served on the President thereof.

SEC. 9. The members of the Board of Trustees shall be entitled to an allowance of two hundred pesos per meeting actually attended: Provided, That they shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary travel expenses incurred in attending meetings of the Board, subject to existing budget laws on honoraria and allowances.

SEC. 10. The Board of Trustees shall have the following powers and duties in addition to its general powers of administration and the exercise of all powers of a corporation as provided in Section thirty-six of Batas Pambansa Blg. 68, otherwise known as the Corporation Code of the Philippines:

1. To receive and appropriate for the purpose specified by law such sum as may be provided for the support of the State College;
2. To confer a degree upon successful candidate for graduation of the State College. It may also confer honorary degrees upon persons in recognition of learning, statesmanship or eminence in any of the fields of specialization of the State College, or in recognition of public service: Provided, That such degrees shall not be conferred in consideration of or reciprocation of some personal favor;
3. To authorize the President of the State College to award proficiency certificates or diplomas to students who have completed non-degree courses;
4. Subject to civil service law, rules and regulations, to appoint, upon recommendation of the President of the State College, vice president, deans, directors, secretary of the State College, registrar, heads of departments, professors, instructors, lecturers and other officials and employees of the State College; to fix their compensation subject to Presidential Decree No. 985 and other pertinent budget and compensation laws; to prescribe hours of service, duties and conditions of work as it may deem proper; to grant to them in its discretion, leave 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 pursuant to civil service law and other governing rules; to provide chairs in the State College, and to provide for the maintenance or endowment of such chairs as may be necessary;
5. To approve the curricula and rules of discipline drawn up by the college council as hereinafter provided;
6. To provide fellowships for qualified faculty members and scholarships to deserving students;
7. To prescribe rules for its own government and to enact for the State College such rules and regulations, not contrary to law, as may be necessary to carry out the purpose and function of the State College;
8. 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 State College, or the department thereof, in such manner as the Board of Trustees may in its discretion determine. All such donations shall be exempt from all taxes and be considered as deductible items from the income tax of the donors;
9. To authorize the President of the State College to enter into contract and/or to negotiate for the construction, repair and acquisition of buildings, machineries and equipment, and other physical facilities, and to contract loans for the improvements thereon.

SEC. 11. On or before the fifteenth day of the second month after the opening of regular classes each year, the Board of Trustees shall file with the Office of the President of the Philippines a detailed report, setting forth the programs, conditions, and needs of the State College.

SEC. 12. There shall be a college council consisting of the President of the State College , vice president, deans, directors, and all members of the faculty with the rank of professor. 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 State College, as well as for graduation and the conferring of degrees subject to review by 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 State College or its duly authorized committee, the council shall have disciplinary power over the students within the limits prescribed by the rules of discipline.

SEC. 13. The body of instructors and professors of the State College shall constitute the faculty of the State College.

SEC. 14. No member of the faculty of the State College shall attempt directly or indirectly, under penalty of dismissal by the Board of Trustees, to influence students or any person in the State College towards any ideology, political or otherwise, which agitates the overthrow of the duly constituted government.

SEC. 15. There shall be a Secretary of the State College who shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees upon recommendation of the President of the State College. He shall also be the Secretary of the Board and shall keep such records of the State College as may be determined by the Board of Trustees.

SEC. 16. The Treasurer of the Philippines shall be ex officio treasurer of the State College and all accounts and expenses thereof shall be audited by the Commission on Audit or its duly authorized representatives, and all disbursements shall be made in accordance with existing auditing rules and regulations.

SEC. 17. Heads of bureaus and offices of the national government are hereby authorized to loan or transfer, upon request of the President of the State College, such apparatus, equipment or supplies or the service 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. 18. The requirements provided in this Act as may prove adverse to the present faculty and employees of the Samar School of Arts and Trades who may be absorbed by the Samar State Polytechnic College shall not apply to them. But future appointees to the said State College shall be subject to all the requirements provided in this Act.

SEC. 19. All assets, obligations and appropriations of the Samar School of Arts and Trades in Samar , whether fixed or movable, records and personnel are hereby transferred and/or absorbed by the Samar State Polytechnic College.

SEC. 20. All existing appropriations for the Samar School of Arts and Trades are hereby transferred to the Samar State Polytechnic College , to be disbursed in accordance with the provisions of this Act. The necessary sum for the operation and maintenance of the State College shall be provided for in subsequent General Appropriations Acts.

SEC. 21. The Board of Trustees in fulfillment of the objectives of the Samar State Polytechnic College is empowered to establish satellite schools and/or extension schools and to integrate and make a part of the State College other national and vocational schools of the Province of Samar and nearby provinces: Provided, That these schools will continue to offer their present curricular offerings that the Board of Trustees may in its discretion authorize.

SEC. 22. The Bureau of Lands, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and the Bureau of Forest Development are hereby directed to coordinate with the Samar Polytechnic State College for the endowment and/or expropriation of at least three hundred hectares out of the alienable and disposable areas of the Province of Samar, Municipality of Catbalogan for the forestry and fishery programs of the State College.

SEC. 23. The Minister of Education and Culture is hereby directed to take such steps as are necessary for the immediate implementation of this Act.

SEC. 24. All laws, executive orders contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

SEC. 25. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, November 18, 1982.