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 19, 1972, it has been declared a policy to reorient the educational system toward an accelerated national economic growth;

WHEREAS, the conversion of the Bukidnon Normal School, Cebu Normal College, Leyte Normal School, and Northern Luzon Teachers College into the Bukidnon State College, Cebu State College, Leyte State College, and Northern. Luzon State College, respectively, broadening for this purpose its curricular programs, would serve to achieve the above national goals;

WHEREAS, the conversion of said normal schools and teachers college into state colleges is in furtherance of the recommendations of the Presidential Commission to Survey Philippine Education for the development of national standards of higher education and the better allocation of government resources for education while preserving the basic autonomy of the institutions concerned.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby decree and order:

SECTION 1. The above three regional normal schools and one teachers college under the Bureau of Public Schools are hereby converted respectively into the following state colleges:

1. The Bukidnon Normal School located in Malaybalay, Bukidnon into the Bukidnon State College;
2. The Cebu Normal College located in Cebu City into the Cebu State College;
3. The Leyte Normal School located in Tacloban City into the Leyte State College; and
4. The Northern Luzon Teachers College located in Laoag City into the Northern Luzon State College.

Each of said Colleges shall offer four-year and five-year courses leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, Bachelor of Science in Education Bachelor of Science in Home Economics, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts in Education Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Education, Science Arts and Letters, as the graduate and undergraduate level are deemed useful and necessary to realize the purpose of each College.

SEC. 2. The purpose of each College shall be to provide professional and technical instruction in the fields of elementary, secondary and collegiate education in science, as well as in the humanities for their respective service area.

SEC. 3. The head of each College shall be known as President. 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 each College, in addition to those specifically provided for in this Decree, shall be those usually pertaining to the office of the president of the college.

SEC. 4. Each College shall exercise the general powers-set out in Section Thirteen of Act Numbered Fourteen Hundred and Fifty-nine, as amended. The governance and administration of each College and the exercise of its corporate powers shall be vested exclusively in the Board of Trustees and in the President of the College insofar as authorized by said Board. The Board of Trustees shall be composed of the Secretary of Education and Culture who shall be ex-officio Chairman of the Board, the Director of Higher Education, the Presidents of said Colleges and two (2) prominent citizens of the Region to be appointed by the President of the Philippines. Of the two appointed members, one shall be an authority on science and the other on arts and letters, either one of whom shall be an alumnus of the college. In the absence of the Secretary of Education and Culture or in case of inability to act as Chairman of the Board, or in the event that there is no incumbent Secretary of Education and Culture, his functions as such shall be temporarily performed by the Undersecretary of Education and Culture.

SEC. 5. The members of the Board of Trustees shall be entitled to an allowance of fifty pesos per meeting actually attended but not more than three hundred pesos per month: Provided, That they shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred either in attendance at the meetings of the Board or in connection with other official business authorized by resolution of the Board.

SEC. 6. The Board of Trustee shall exercise for each College all the powers of a corporation as provided in Section thirteen of Act Numbered Fourteen Hundred and Fifty-nine, as amended. In addition to its general powers of administration, it shall also have the following powers and duties:

1. To receive and appropriate to the ends specified by law such funds as may be provided by law for the support of each College;
2. To confer the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, Bachelor of Science in Education, Bachelor of Science in Home Economics, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts in Education, Master of Education, Master of Arts in Teaching, and such other degrees in Education, Science and Letters as may be offered hereafter to successful candidate for graduation.
3. To appoint, on recommendation of the President of each College, a Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Development with a position next in rank to the President of the College who shall assist the President in the administration and supervision of the College and who shall automatically assume the presidency of the College in an acting capacity, with full powers and duties, in the absence of the President or when the office of the president is vacant;
4. To appoint a college secretary, deans and heads of departments, lecturers and employees of each College; fix their compensation, hours of service and such other duties and conditions as it may deem proper; grant them, in its discretion, leave of absence in accordance with existing laws, rules and regulations; and remove them for cause after an investigation and hearing shall have been conducted;
5. To approve the curricula and rules of discipline drawn up by each College Council as hereinafter provided;
6. To fix the tuition fees required of students, as well as matriculation fees, graduation fees, fees for laboratory courses and all special fees, and to remit the same in special cases;
7. To provide fellowships for deserving faculty members and scholarships for students of exceptional brilliance;
8. To promulgate rules for its own governance and to enact for the government of each College such general ordinances and regulations, not contrary to law, as are consistent with the purposes of each College as defined in Section two of this Decree;
9. 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 each 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. Such donations shall be exempt from all taxes and considered as deductible items from the income tax of the donors;
10. To import, duty free, commodities for educational purposes as an exception to existing laws; and
11. To authorize the College to undertake construction and/or repair of its buildings and other facilities, any provision of law or executive order to the contrary notwithstanding, provided that the funds for the purpose shall come from its appropriation.

SEC. 7. A quorum of the Board of Trustees shall consist of a majority of all its members holding office at the time a meeting is called.

SEC. 8. On or before the fifteenth of June of each year the Board of Trustees shall submit to the President of the Philippines a detailed report setting forth the programs, conditions and needs of each College.

SEC. 9. There shall be a College Council consisting of the President of the College, the Vice-President of Academic Affairs and Development, and all instructors and professors of each College. The Council shall have the power to prescribe the curricula and the rules of discipline, subject to approval of the Board of Trustees. It shall fix the requirements for admission to the College as well as for graduation and the receiving of a degree. The Council alone shall have the power to recommend students or others to be the recipients of degrees or honors. Through its president or committee, it shall have disciplinary control over the students within the prescribed rules of discipline approved by the Board of Trustees.

SEC. 10. The body of instructors and professors shall constitute the faculty of each College, with the President of the College as the presiding officer. In the appointment of professors or instructors of each college, no religious test or party loyalty check shall be applied.

SEC. 11. Professors, instructors, lecturers and the Secretary of each college shall be exempt as such from any civil service examination as a requisite for appointment and their salaries should be exempted from the WAPCO, but the other personnel of the College shall be subject to the Civil Service and WAPCO Laws, rules and regulations.

SEC. 12. The Treasurer of the Philippines shall be ex-officio Treasurer of each College; and all accounts and expenses shall be audited by the Chairman of the Commission on Audit or his duly authorized representatives.

SEC. 13. The Board of Trustees shall appoint a Board Secretary who shall be the Secretary of the Board of Trustees and who shall keep the records of the Board.

SEC. 14. The President of each College, with the cooperation of the superintendents within the service area of the College, may use one or more of their schools as training or laboratory schools for student teaching, research and innovative projects.

SEC. 15. In order not to interrupt the smooth functioning of said normal schools and teachers college, the present faculty members as well as all the other personnel thereof that are recommended by the President of the College, shall be reappointed to their respective State Colleges. Salaries of these personnel shall be adjusted at the discretion of the Board of Trustees within the amounts available for appropriation.

SEC. 16. The present school site of each College and all other school properties are hereby transferred, ceded and conveyed to each respective State College.

SEC. 17. All provisions of law inconsistent with this Decree are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 18. In order to carry out the purposes of this Decree the sum of four million pesos is hereby authorized to be appropriated from any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, in addition to the funds already appropriated under existing laws or decrees. Thereafter, the sum necessary for the operation of the herein state colleges shall be included in the annual general appropriations measure.

SEC. 19. This Decree shall take effect immediately except insofar as the additional appropriation is concerned which shall become available in January 1, 1977.

Done in the City of Manila, this 14th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-six.