WHEREAS, the Tomas Oppus Community College in Barangay San Isidro, Municipality of Tomas Oppus, Province of Southern Leyte, with its very limited resources, can only offer the Bachelor of Science in Education and Liberal Arts courses, and therefore cannot meet the needs of the Province of Leyte for teachers to enhance the educational development of the Province as well as the municipalities bordering the province;

WHEREAS, the Tomas Oppus Normal College can also extend teachers education to the youth of the western municipalities of Leyte which are linked by the Bato-Bato road to the Municipality of Tomas Oppus;

WHEREAS, the growing population of the Province of Southern Leyte as well as the western municipalities of Leyte is a constant concern of the Government as well as parents and in order to satisfy the need for a sufficient number of teachers to staff the schools for these children, a normal school should be avaiable within the area;

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

SECTION 1. The Tomas Oppus Community College in the Municipality of Tomas Oppus, Province of Southern Leyte, is converted into a normal college to be known as the Tomas Oppus Normal College, hereinafter referred to as the College.

SEC. 2. The College shall primarily provide profesional and advanced instructions in the arts, sciences, humanities, and education. It shall also promote research, advanced studies and progressive leadership in its field of specialization.

SEC. 3. In addition to its liberal arts and education offerings, the College shall offer graduate courses in the fields of education, humanities and liberal arts and other relevant courses as the Board of Trustees may deem relevant and necessary to carry out its objectives.

SEC. 4. The governance and administration of the College shall be in accordance with the provisions of Presidential Decree Numbered Fourteen Hundred and Thirty-seven.

SEC. 5. All personnel, records, assets and liabilities of the Tomas Oppus Community College are hereby transferred to and assorotea by the Tomas Oppus Normal College.

SEC. 6. The existing appropriations intended for the Tomas Oppus Community College are hereby transferred to the Tomas Oppus Normal College, to be disbursed in accordance with the provisions of this Decree. In addition, such amount as may be necessary for the implementation of this Decree shall be charged to the appropriations authorized under the current General Appropriations of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports. Thereafter, such amount as may be needed for its operation and maintenance shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 7. The Minister of Education shall take such steps as may be necessary for the immediate implementation of this Decree.

Done in the City of Manila, this 1st day of February, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty-six.

			(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President of the Philippines
	By the President:
	(Sgd.) JOAQUIN T. VENUS
		Deputy Presidential Executive Assistant